Halley’s Comet 1334 BC – The Myth of Phrixus by Nicholas Costa © 2026

Phrixus was depicted as the son of Athamas and Nephele. In the myth his mother sent a flying Golden Ram to rescue him and his sister Helle.

The abbreviated myth taken from Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.1. is as follows:

Athamas begat a son Phrixus and a daughter Helle by Nephele. He married a second wife, Ino, who plotted against the children of Nephele and persuaded the women to parch the wheat; and having got the wheat they did so without the knowledge of the men. But the earth, being sown with parched wheat, did not yield its annual crops; so Athamas sent to Delphi to inquire how he might be delivered from the dearth. Now Ino persuaded the messengers to say it was foretold that the infertility would cease if Phrixus were sacrificed to Zeus. When Athamas heard that, he was forced by the inhabitants of the land to bring Phrixus to the altar. But Nephele caught him and her daughter up and gave them a ram with a Golden Fleece, and borne through the sky by the ram they crossed land and sea. But when they were over the sea which lies betwixt Sigeum and the Chersonese, Helle slipped into the deep and was drowned, and the sea was called Hellespont after her.

Metaphors for the 1334 BC apparition

According to the myth Phrixus mother was called Nephele (the cloud). This is reflected in modern calculations concerning the appartion of 1334 BC. According to Yeomans the 1334 BC apparition of Halley was very likely a normal, naked-eye-visible return within the typical brightness range of the comet, but there is no evidence it was an unusually bright or historically exceptional event. The 1334 BC apparition of Halley most likely belonged to the normal naked-eye visibility range of the comet, probably between the 1910 and 1986 experiences, but with no evidence it reached the exceptional brightness of 1910 or earlier “great comet” returns. This seemingly undermines the myth, since the comet would have been poorly visible.

However, the myth goes on to say his father remarried and that the wicked stepmother tried to kill him and his sister. His mother sent a Golden Ram named Chrysomallos, to save them and to carry them off to the east. Along the way his sister lost her grip and fell into the sea at the Hellespont indicating thereby a meteorite impacting the sea.

Notably the apparition of Halley’s comet (its perihelion is calculated to 23^rd October) at this time occurred in proximity to the Orionid meteor shower. Studies of the Halley stream show that around 800 BC, the comet’s core path was much closer to Earth’s orbit than it is today. In 1334 BC, the shower may therefore have been a significantly more intense annual spectacle. Hence the metaphor of the Golden Ram.

Athamas: if the name is broken down into its parts a and thama a theoretical etymology can be produced. In Ancient Greek, the prefix a- (known as the alpha privative) typically means not or without. The thama root in Ancient Greek means frequently, or often. The linguistic breakdown above suggests that the name can be interpreted as meaning infrequent (not often). The name therefore aligns very well as a metaphor for the apparition of a comet.

Nephele: is his first wife. The name is derived from nephos, meaning a mass of clouds. Her name is central to the myth of the Golden Fleece, as according to the myth she sent a flying golden ram to rescue her children, Phrixus and Helle, in order to save them from being sacrificed during a famine—a disaster ironically caused by her absence (lack of rain clouds).

Elle: Phryxus’ sister’s name is thought to be linked to a root meaning bright or shining (similar to helios/ sun), A closely related Greek word is helene which means torch or bright light.

Ino: is the name of the stepmother who tried to kill Phrixus. Scholars often link the name to the Greek verb iemi, meaning to move or to send.

Phryxus:The name Phryxus (or Phrixus) comes from the Ancient Greek name Phrixos , which literally means bristling. It is derived from the Greek verb phrisso which refers to the physical sensation of hair or feathers standing up. It pairs very well with the image of an airborn golden ram. It is evident as with the myth of Sisyphus that these are all metaphors for a comet or meteorite.

1334 BC, The date ascribed to the myth in antiquity.

In the critical edition by Helm and most Western scholarly reconstructions, the father of Phrixus, Athamas, is placed at the Year of Abraham 686. Using Jerome’s anchor of 2016 BC for Abraham’s birth, this calculates exactly to 1330/1 BC. (Helm, Rudolf (ed.). Eusebius Werke, 7. Band: Die Chronik des Hieronymus, Hieronymi Chronicon, 1956.)

The Chronography of George Synkellos. Modern scholars like William Adler and Paul Tuffin have translated and analysed Syncellus’s work, confirming his use of the Alexandrian Era (starting in 5493 BC) to synchronise biblical events with Greek mythology. (Adler, William and Paul Tuffin. The Chronography of George Synkellos: A Byzantine Chronicle of Universal History from the Creation, 2002.)

1334 BC is a standard modern conversion for the specific Annus Mundi (Year of the World) that Syncellus provides. Syncellus relied on Eusebius of Caesarea and Panodorus of Alexandria. The 1984 book by Alden A. Mosshammer is the critical edition of the Greek text of Ecloga Chronographica by George Synkellos, whilst Mosshammer’s other major work (The Chronicle of Eusebius and Greek Chronographic Tradition, 1979) is where he provides the extensive analysis of how these chronographers (Eusebius, Africanus, and Syncellus) calculated their timelines and how those map to our modern BC/AD system.

1334 BC Apotheosis of Ino

The year 1334 BC is highlighted by academics for the apotheosis of Ino (Athamas’s wife). She was Phryxus’ step mother who tried to kill him and ended up killing herself by jumping into the sea. The same year saw the madness of Athamas who killed his son with a stone or by shooting him with an arrow.

Important Note

Whilst the commonly accessible online version of Jerome’s Chronicon cites a date of 1352 for the founding of the Isthmian games founded to commemorate the death of Ino and her son Melicertes, the Bodleian Manuscript (MS. Auct. T. 2. 26) held in Oxford, which is widely recognised by scholars as the most authoritative witness to Jerome’s original tabular chronology actually gives a date of 1326 BC for the event.

The entire mythical cycle is evidently a metaphor for the apparition of Halley’s comet in 1334 BC and the subsequent airburst of c1327 BC

Late Bronze Age- Mythological coincidence?

Significantly the date ascribed in antiquity to the myth falls within a critical period of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BC) marked by increasing environmental instability.

Aridification: In conformity with the myth modern scientific data and ancient texts suggest that the mid-14th century BC was the beginning of a long-term aridification trend that eventually contributed to the Late Bronze Age collapse. (Environmental Roots of the Late Bronze Age Crisis. Kaniewski, D., et al. 2013. ; Late second–early first millennium BC abrupt climate changes in coastal Syria and their possible significance for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean. Kaniewski, D., et al. 2010. )

The Hittite Crisis: Records from the Hittite capital, Hattusa, indicate that the empire faced devastating multi-year droughts starting around this period. The Hittite Plague prayers of King Mursili II (reigned c. 1321–1295 BC) specifically mention a deadly epidemic that lasted for 20 years, killing his father and brother. (Singer, Itamar. Hittite Prayers. Edited by Harry A. Hoffner Jr., 2002)

The Amarna Letters: These diplomatic tablets, dating roughly between 1360 and 1332 BC, include desperate pleas from regional commanders. One specific document, Letter EA 163, records a military commander named Atamr writing to the Pharaoh: “We are dying here of hunger… no grain has reached us for many days”. (The Amarna letters / edited and translated by William L. Moran, 1992.)

Metaphors for the 1334 BC apparition

According to the myth Phrixus mother was called Nephele (the cloud). This is reflected in modern calculations concerning the apparition of 1334 BC. Yeomans’ orbital calculations indicate that Halley’s Comet returned around 1334 BC, but was much further away from earth than the apparitions of 1404 and 1266 BC. They do not provide a direct assessment of its brightness. Given Halley’s usual behavior, the apparition was probably visible to the naked eye, yet there is no evidence from Yeomans’ study or surviving historical records that it was an exceptionally bright or historically remarkable return.

However, the myth goes on to say his father remarried and that the wicked stepmother tried to kill him and his sister. His mother sent a Golden Ram named Chrysomallos, to save them and to carry them off to the east. Along the way his sister lost her grip and fell into the sea at the Hellespont indicating thereby a meteorite impacting the sea.

Notably the apparition of Halley’s comet (its perihelion is calculated to 23^rd October) at this time occurred in proximity to the Orionid meteor shower. Studies of the Halley stream show that around 800 BC, the comet’s core path was much closer to Earth’s orbit than it is today. In 1334 BC, the shower may therefore have been a significantly more intense annual spectacle. Hence the metaphor of the Golden Ram.

(The long-term motion of comet Halley D. Yeomans, T. Kiang Published December 1981)

Phrixus’ Travel Eastwards:

A possible scenario to explain Phrixus eastward journey would be as follows:

Approach (Early October): Halley visible in the pre-dawn sky. At this stage, its apparent motion was East to West. The Departure (November): After rounding the sun, it would have moved into the evening sky. Its apparent motion would have shifted to West to East before fading from view.

Next: Halley’s Comet 1266 BC, Ixion’s Wheel, and the Golden Lamb

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