Aries

The story

Aries' mythological ancestor is Khrysomallos, the golden-fleeced ram. When King Athamas of Boeotia and his wife Nephele's two children, Phrixos and Helle, were about to be killed by their stepmother, Hermes (in some versions Zeus) sent the golden-fleeced ram. The children rose to the sky on the ram's back; the girl Helle fell into the strait of Hellespont (named for her), while Phrixos reached safety in Colchis. Phrixos sacrificed the ram to Zeus and hung the fleece on a sacred oak. This Golden Fleece later becomes the treasure sought in the Jason and the Argonauts myth. Zeus placed the ram in the sky — the constellation Aries. Greek "krios" (ram), Latin "aries" — the first sign marking the spring equinox in March.

Into the sky

After saving Phrixos, the ram was sacrificed to Zeus. To honor the ram's courage and loyalty, Zeus placed it in the sky as a constellation.

Themes

• golden-fleece ram
• rescuer
• sacrifice
• first journey