In Greek mythology Phrixus (/ˈfrɪksəs/; also spelt Phryxus; Ancient Greek: Φρίξος, romanized: 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 and the father of Argus,[1] Phrontis, Melas and Cytisorus by Chalciope (Iophassa[2]), daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis.

She hatched a devious plot to get rid of the children, roasting all of Boeotia's crop seeds so they would not grow.

Before they were killed, though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying, or swimming,[3] ram with golden wool sent by Nephele, their natural mother; their starting point is variously recorded as Halos in Thessaly and 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.