Ocyrrhoe

According to Ovid, Ocyrrhoe was the daughter of Aeolus and Chariclo. At birth, she was endowed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo. She later became the mother of Phasis by Apollo. Ocyrrhoe had been raped by Aeolus, the son of Hellen. So great was her gift in prophecy that the gods feared that Ocyrrhoe would reveal all of their secrets to mortals. Apollo was helpless to prevent his father Zeus from transforming her into a mare.

However, in the Poetica Astronomia, Hyginus said that she was the daughter of Cheiron, known as Melanippe. Here the circumstances for her transformation were different from Ovid's version. Like Ocyrrhoe, Aeolus had raped Melanippe, so that she fell pregnant.

Fearing that her father would kill her for being pregnant, she kept her condition a secret. When she was due to deliver her baby, Melanippe fled from home and hid in the woods. When she heard that her father was approaching, she prayed to a god to hide her. Shortly after she gave birth, she was immediately transformed into a mare. Later she was placed among the stars as the constellation known as the "Horse", "Little Horse" or Equuleus.