NEPHELE (cloud nymph and mother of Phrixus and Helle)
Divine power · cloud goddess, wife of Athamas and mother of Phrixus and Helle
- Parents
- Oceanus
- Consorts
- Athamas
- Children
- Phrixus, Helle, Macistus
- Foes
- Ino
- In the sources
- 10 ancient passages
Nephele, daughter of Oceanus, was a figure of power, yet even her strength was less than that of Fate.1 She was the first wife of Athamas, ruler of Boeotia, and bore him Phrixus, Helle, and Macistus.2
When her stepdaughter Ino plotted to harm Nephele's children, the mother rescued Phrixus and Helle from being sacrificed on an altar.2,3 To save them, she gave them the immortal golden-fleeced ram to carry them through the sky.2,3
Nephele was also the partner of Ixion, who lay with a cloud figure Zeus created to resemble Hera after Ixion's advances on the goddess.4,5 From this union, Ixion fathered the Centaurs, making Nephele their mother.5,6,7 Later, she aided the Centaurs against Heracles by sending heavy rain to make the ground slippery.6
In a moment of service, Nephele fetched water for a bathing goddess and poured it from a large urn.8 Her maternal role was questioned in tragedy when a Nereid asked why she did not prevent her daughter Helle from falling to her death.9,10
The codex facts behind this entry
Zeus created a cloud figure to resemble Hera for Ixion to lie with. Diodorus 4.69
In the myths
Nephele rescued Phrixus and Helle from being sacrificed on an altar by giving them the immortal golden-fleeced ram to carry them through the sky. Apollodorus 1.9.1 +1 Nephele fetched water for the bathing goddess and poured it from a large urn. Ovid Met. 3.131-252 (3) Nephele aided the Centaurs against Heracles by sending heavy rain to make the ground slippery. Diodorus 4.12 According to Hesiod and Pherecydes, Nephele provided the ram with a golden fleece. The Catalogues of Women and Eoiae fr. 38 Ixion lay with the cloud figure and fathered the Centaurs. Diodorus 4.69
Fate
The cloud figure was used by Zeus to deceive Ixion after his advances on Hera. Diodorus 4.69 Fate is described as being significantly stronger than Nephele. Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 9 ¶2
