Pegasus: Encyclopedia - Pegasus

Pegasus

In Greek mythology, Pegasus (Pegasos) was a winged horse that was the foal of Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and the Gorgon Medusa.

Descriptions vary as to the winged stallion's birth and his brother the giant, Chrysaor; some say that they sprang from Medusa's neck as Perseus beheaded her, a "higher" birth, like the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Others says that they were born of the earth as Medusa's blood spilled onto it, in which case Poseidon would not be their sire. Minerva caught and tamed Pegasus, and presented him to the Muses.

Hesiod connects the name Pegasos with the word for "spring, well", pēgē; everywhere the winged horse struck hoof to earth, an inspiring spring burst forth: one on the Muses' Mount Helicon, the Hippocrene ("horse spring"), at the behest of Poseidon to prevent the mountain swelling too much and another at Troezen. The actual etymology of the name is most likely from Luwian pihassas "lightning", or pihassasas, a weather god (the god of lightning). In Hesiod, Pegasos is still associated with this original significance by carrying the thunderbolts for Zeus.

Pegasus aided the hero Bellerophon, who is a double in some way for Perseus, in his fight against both the Chimera and the Amazons. There are varying tales as to how Bellerophon found Pegasus, some say that the hero found him drinking at the Pierian spring and that Polyidus told Bellerophon how to find and tame him, others that either Athena or Poseidon brought him to Bellerophon.

Prior to aiding Bellerophon, Pegasus brought thunderbolts to Zeus, and following Bellerophon's death he returned to Mount Olympus to aid the gods. In his later life, Pegasus took a wife, Euippe (or Ocyrrhoe), by whom he had a child, Celeris. This family is the origin of the winged horses.

Pegasus was eventually turned into a constellation, but a single feather fell to the earth near the city of Tarsus (hence its name).

In popular culture, the myth of Pegasus has been incorrectly associated with various heroic myths other than Bellerophon. The movie Clash of the Titans blends the myths of Bellerophon and Perseus into one myth where Perseus becomes the original tamer of Pegasus. Similarly, in the Disney adaptation of the Hercules legend, Pegasus is depicted as a childhood pet of Hercules.

See also: Pegasus (constellation) Pegasus (computer)

Categories: Greek mythology | Legendary creatures | Fictional horses

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Pegasus", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki