Athamas and Ino.
     The king of Boeotia and the son of Aeolus, Athamas married the cloud goddess Nephele, with whom he had two children, Phrixus and Helle. After giving birth, Nephele returned to the sky. Athamas then married Ino, a daughter of Cadmus. She bore him two sons, Learchus and Melicertes. She was so jealous of her stepchildren, however, that she plotted their death. She first caused a famine, then, when envoys were sent to the oracle at Delphi for advice, she persuaded them to say that the famine would end only if Phrixus was sacrificed.
    As Athamas was about to sacrifice his son, Nephele saved him and took him and his sister Helle to the sky on a golden-fleeced ram, given to her by Hermes. As they flew, Helle fell into the sea at the place now called the Hellespont. Phrixus continued the journey to Colchis, at the eastern end of the Black Sea, where he was welcomed by its king, Aeëtes. The ram was sacrificed to Zeus and its golden fleece remained in Colchis, guarded by a dragon, until Jason and the Argonauts arrived and stole it away.
    Ino had nursed Dionysus, son of Semele by Zeus, thus incurring the wrath of Hera (Juno). The goddess journeyed to Hades and enlisted the Fury Tisiphone who, as a serpent, attacked Athamas and Ino, driving them mad. Athamas, convinced that Ino and her babies were a lioness with two cubs, tore Learchus from Ino’s arms and flung him against a wall. Ino, still holding Melicertes, climbed a cliff near the water and leapt into the sea. But Aphrodite called on Poseidon to change the mother and son into sea creatures. Transformed and renamed Palae-mon and Leucothea, they often came to the aid of sailors; Leucothea protected Odysseus when he was shipwrecked by Poseidon.
    Treatments of this subject touch on all aspects of the narrative, from the sacrifice and rescue of Phrixus and Helle to the fury of Athamas and Ino’s suicide. There are representations in the visual arts, but the story is principally represented in narrative poetry, drama, and opera.