Born to the son of the god of The Winds, King Athamas, and the cloud nymph, Nephele, Phrixos is a hero in Greek mythology.
He and his sister, Helle, were hated by their step mother, Ino, who hated her step children so much she set a plan in motion to get rid of them by first misleading the young maidens into roasting seeds secretly before planting them, telling them it would increase their potency.
At the plight of the famine and seeing his desperate subjects, King Athamas sought answers from the oracle of Delphi. Ino bribed the messengers to deliver her own message to the king that he had to sacrifice his firstborn son at Zeus' altar.
When Phrixos lay at the alter ready to be sacrificed, Nephele, who could not bear this, came down in a thick cloud. And it was at this point that Hermes' Ram, sent by Nephele, swooped in to save Phrixos who grabbed his sister and escaped on the back of the Ram.
The Golden Fleeced Ram, Chrysomallus, carried them far away over sea and land but as they flew over Sigeion and Thrace Helle fell off the Ram and into the Dardanelles below. It was after this incident that it became known as the sea of Helle or Hellespont.
Phrixos flew with Chrysomallus all the way to the land of Colchis on the eastern shores of the Black Sea. There he sacrificed the Golden Fleeced Ram as a tribute of thanks to Zeus, who was so pleased he created the constellation Aries afterwards. Phrixos married King Aietes daughter, Chalckiope, and made Colchis his home. After sacrificing the Ram he gave the golden fleece to his father in law who placed it in the grove of Ares guarded by a large sleepless dragon.