Nephele

Nephele
Cloud Goddess of hospitality, generosity, loyalty, peace and shyness
Member of the Athamantian Royal House
Pompeii - Casa dei Vettii - Ixion.jpg
Punishment of Ixion
Nephele sitting at Mercury's feet. Roman fresco in the House of the Vettii Pompeii
AbodeThessaly, then Boeotia
Parents(a) Formed of a cloud by Zeus
(b) Oceanus and/or Tethys
(c) Aether
Consort(i) Ixion
(ii) Athamas
Offspring(i) Centaurs or Centaurus or
Imbrus
(ii) Phrixus and Helle

In Greek mythology, Nephele (/ˈnɛfəliː/; Ancient Greek: Νεφέλη from νέφος nephos "cloud"; Latinized to Nubes) was a cloud nymph who figured prominently in the story of Phrixus and Helle.

Mythology

Greek myth has it that Nephele is the cloud whom Zeus created in the image of Hera to trick Ixion to test his integrity after displaying his lust for Hera during a feast as a guest of Zeus. Ixion's restraint failed him, and he assaulted Nephele, eventually fathering the Centaurs (through Imbros or Centauros).

Nephele married Athamas, and had twins, a son, Phrixus, and a daughter, Helle. Athamas then divorced her for Ino, who hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the town'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. Before he was killed though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by their natural mother Nephele.

Phrixus and Helle were instructed to not look down to Earth for the duration of their flight. Helle, though, did look down, and fell off the ram into the Hellespont (which was named after her, meaning Sea of Helle) and drowned. Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis, where King Aeetes took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus gave the king the Golden Fleece of the Golden Ram, which Aeetes hung in a tree in his kingdom. The Golden Fleece would later be taken by Jason and his Argonauts.

In modern culture

Film

Cesare Pavese's rendition of the myth was adapted for the screen by the filmmaking duo Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet (otherwise known as Straub-Huillet) as part of their 1979 film Dalla nube alla resistenza, starring Olimpia Carlisi as Nephele and Guido Lombardi as Ixion.

Music

Animals as Leaders released a progressive metal song named "Nephele" on their 2014 album The Joy of Motion.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-01-18 04:33 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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