Helice, nurse of the god Zeus during his infancy on Crete[2] together with her sister Aex.[3] Her name suggests that she was a "willow-nymph", just as there were oak-tree nymphs and ash-nymphs (Dryads and Meliae). It is likely that she is the same as Ide. When Cronus once came to Crete in search of Zeus, the young god himself and his companions by turning them into bears, as he became a serpent. Later, when he became king, he made them both constellations, Helice becoming Ursa Major, while Cynosura became Ursa Minor.[4][5] Helice, in antiquity, was a common proper name for the constellation Ursa Major.[6] In one version, Demeter asks the stars whether they know anything about her daughter Persephone's abduction, and Helice tells her to ask Helios, who knows the deeds of the day, because the night is blameless and knows nothing.[7] Another account relates that Helice and her sister Aex were the nymph-daughters of Olenus, son of Hephaestus. It was said that the trio gave their names to the following cities— OlenusinAulis, Helice in the Peloponnesus, and Aex in Haemonia.[3]
Helike, an Aegialian princess as the only daughter of King Selinus who wed her with Ion.[10] By the latter, she became the mother of Bura.[11] Later on, Ion built a city which he named after Helice.[12][13]
This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists.