HELLESPONT, the modern Dardanelles (vol. vi. p. 823), is variously named in classical literature ’ Eλλψr- 7rovτoς, Hellespontus, ό β Eλλ∙>∕ς πόντος, Pontus Helles, Hellespontum Pelagus, and Fretum Hellesponticum. It received its name from Helle, in Greek mythology, daughter of Athamas, king of Orchomenus in Boeotia, and of the goddess Nephele, whom he had married at the command of Hera (Juno). Athamas, however, secretly loved the mortal Ino, and on his marrying her also the dissensions between his wives became so great· that he went to consult the Delphic oracle. The priestess there, bribed by Ino, assured him that the sacrifice of Phrixus, the brother of Helle, was necessary to domestic harmony; but Nephele, in order to save her children, despatched them to Colchis in Asia, on the back of the ram with the golden fleece. Helle, however, had the misfortune, when crossing this strait, to slip from her seat, and to be carried away by the current: hence the name Hellespontus, or “Sea of Helle.”