Hellespont (Dardanelles)

Greek The long

narrow channel or strait leading from the Aegean

Sea into the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. It was

an important trade route for ships traveling between

Asia and Europe. There were many battles and wars

for control of this channel, the most famous of which

was the Trojan War.

The Hellespont got its name from legends that

say Helle, the sister of Phrixus, drowned there when

she and her brother, who were fleeing from their

stepmother, Ino, flew over the water on the ram with

the Golden Fleece.