Aries
1600x1300mm
oil on canvas
2026
First mentioned:
Unknown poet - Catalogue of Women, ca. 700 BCE
The Story of Aries, the Golden Ram
Phrixus and Helle were the children of King Athamas, whose new wife, Ino, grew jealous of them and devised a scheme that placed their lives in danger. When the children were threatened with sacrifice, a miraculous ram with a fleece of pure gold was sent to carry them away.
Rescuing the children, the ram flew across the sea with Phrixus and Helle upon its back. During the journey, however, Helle lost her grip and fell into the waters below, which since has been known as the Hellespont. Phrixus survived the journey and eventually reached Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea.
There, Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus and presented its golden fleece to King Aeëtes. The king placed the fleece in a sacred grove dedicated to Ares, where it was guarded by a moody dragon that never slept.
The golden fleece later became the object of one of Greek mythology’s greatest quests. Jason and the Argonauts sailed to Colchis in search of it, and with the help of the sorceress Medea, Jason succeeded in taking the fleece.
Zeus placed the image of the golden ram among the stars, where it became the constellation Aries. The constellation thus preserves the memory of a miraculous rescue that ultimately became the beginning of one of the most famous adventures in Greek mythology.
