Editing Phrixus

{{short description|Ancient Greek mythological figure}}
{{Infobox deity
|type=Greek
|name=Phrixus or Phryxus
|deity_of=[[Boeotia|Boeotian prince]]
|member_of=the Athamantian Royal House
|image=Phrixos und Helle.jpg
|alt=
|caption=Phrixus and Helle
|other_names=
|cult_center=
|abode=[[Athamantis]] in [[Boeotia]], later [[Colchis]]
|consort=[[Chalciope]]
|parents=[[Athamas]] and [[Nephele]]
|siblings=[[Helle (mythology)|Helle]], [[Learches]], [[Melicertes]], [[Schoeneus]], [[Leucon]], [[Ptous]] (half brothers)
|offspring=[[Argus (Greek myth)|Argus]], [[Phrontis]], [[Melas (mythology)|Melas]] and [[Cytissorus|Cytisorus]]
|predecessor=
|successor=
|Roman_equivalent=
|Etruscan_equivalent=
}}
 
In [[Greek mythology]] '''Phrixus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|ɪ|k|s|ə|s}}; also spelt '''Phryxus'''; {{langx|grc|Φρίξος|Phrixos}} means "standing on end, bristling") was the son of [[Athamas]], king of [[Boeotia]], and [[Nephele]] (a goddess of clouds). He was the older brother of [[Helle (mythology)|Helle]] and the father of [[Argus (Greek myth)|Argus]],<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Phrixus 1.9.16]</ref> [[Phrontis (son of Phrixus)|Phrontis]], [[Melas (mythology)|Melas]] and [[Cytissorus|Cytisorus]] by [[Chalciope of Colchis|Chalciope]] ([[Chalciope of Colchis|Iophassa]]<ref>Scholia on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 2.1122 citing [[Hesiod|Hesiod's]] ''[[Catalogue of Women|Ehoiai]]''</ref>), daughter of [[Aeëtes|Aeetes]], king of [[Colchis]].

== Mythology ==
Phrixus and Helle were hated by their stepmother, [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]]. She hatched a devious plot to get rid of the children, roasting all of [[Boeotia]]'s crop seeds so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby [[oracle]] for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus and Helle. Before they were killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying, or swimming,<ref>Flying is conventional in modern treatments, but see D. S. Robertson, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/705411 The Flight of Phrixus]", ''The Classical Review'', Vol. 54, No. 1 (Mar., 1940), pp. 1–8.</ref> ram with golden wool sent by [[Nephele]], their natural mother; their starting point is variously recorded as [[Halos (Thessaly)|Halos]] in Thessaly and [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]] in Boeotia. During their flight Helle, for unknown reasons, fell off the ram and drowned in the strait between Europe and Asia, which was named after her the Hellespont, meaning the sea of Helle (now the [[Dardanelles]]); Phrixus survived all the way to [[Colchis]], where King Aeëtes, the son of the sun god [[Helios]], took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus sacrificed the ram to [[Poseidon]] and gave the king the [[Golden Fleece]] of the ram, which Aeëtes hung in a tree in the holy grove of [[Ares]] in his kingdom, guarded by a dragon that never slept. Phrixus and Chalciope had four sons, who later joined forces with the [[Argonauts]]. The oldest was Argos/Argus, the others were Phrontis, Melas, and Cytisorus.
[[File:Halos, Phrixos.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Depiction of Phrixos flying on ram to [[Colchis]] on AE dichalkon struck in [[Halos (Thessaly)|Halos]], [[Phthiotis]] in 3rd century BC.]]

Phrixus thus lived at the court of Aeëtes but one day Aeëtes learned from an oracle that he would die at the hands of a descendant of [[Aeolus (son of Hellen)|Aeolus]] (the paternal grandfather of Phrixus) and so he killed Phrixus.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae1.html|title=Hyginus, Fabulae 1-49 - Theoi Classical Texts Library|access-date=2022-03-28}}</ref> However, other sources claim that Phrixus lived peacefully at Colchis and died of old age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Phrixus in Greek Mythology |url=https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/phrixus.html |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=Greek Legends and Myths |language=en}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website]. 
*[[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853-1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. [https://topostext.org/work/126 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Pseudo-Eratosthenes]], ''Catasterismi'' 14, 19
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] 
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 1–3, 12, 21, 22, 188
*[[Gaius Valerius Flaccus]], 1.281ff
*[[Valerius Flaccus (poet)|Gaius Valerius Flaccus]], ''Argonautica'' translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ValeriusFlaccus1.html Online version at theio.com.]
*Gaius Valerius Flaccus, ''Argonauticon.'' Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0058 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 7.8ff, ''Fasti'' 3.867ff
*[[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
*Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Palaephatus]], ''Incredibilia'' 30

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Princes in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Family of Athamas]]
[[Category:Mythological Boeotians]]
[[Category:Colchis in mythology]]