Helle
Daughter of Athamas who fell from the golden ram into the strait that bears her name — the Hellespont.
The Legend of Helle
She fell from a flying ram into the sea — and named one of the most strategically important waterways in the ancient world. Helle and her brother Phrixus were escaping their stepmother Ino on the back of the golden ram Chrysomallus. Over the narrow strait between Europe and Asia, Helle lost her grip and plunged into the water. The strait became the Hellespont (Sea of Helle), known today as the Dardanelles. Phrixus reached Colchis and sacrificed the ram, setting up the entire Golden Fleece quest. Helle's death is often overlooked, but without it there would be no Hellespont, and the geography of the Trojan War and Persian Wars would have been narrated differently.
Parents
Athamas, Nephele
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Hellespont (Dardanelles) is still one of the world's most strategic waterways, named for a girl who fell.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Phrixus
🗡 herosurvival
Son of Athamas who rode the golden ram to Colchis, sacrificed it, and gave its fleece to King Aeetes.
Aegeus
🗡 herotragedy
King of Athens and father of Theseus who threw himself into the sea when he saw black sails, believing his son was dead.
Aristomachus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A descendant of Heracles who led an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim the Peloponnese, paving the way for his sons' eventual triumph in the Return of the Heraclidae
Telegonus
🗡 herotragedy
Son of Odysseus and Circe who unknowingly killed his own father, fulfilling a prophecy that death would come to Odysseus from the sea.
Eurytion
🗡 heroHunting, archery
Argonaut and skilled hunter who later participated in the Calydonian Boar Hunt
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Tiphys
🗡 heroNavigation, seamanship
Original helmsman of the Argo whose skill guided the ship through the Clashing Rocks
Golden Ram
🐉 creatureFlight, rescue, sacrifice
Divine winged ram with golden fleece that rescued Phrixus and Helle and whose skin became the legendary Golden Fleece
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Amphissa
🗡 heroLove, tragedy
Daughter of Macareus who was beloved by Apollo and gave her name to the city of Amphissa in Locris
Deucalion
🗡 herosurvival
Son of Prometheus who survived Zeus's great flood by building an ark on his father's advice, then repopulated the earth.
Amphiaraus
🗡 heroThe prophet who foresaw his own death at Thebes
A warrior-prophet who knew the Seven Against Thebes would fail but marched to his death anyway, swallowed by the earth.