|
|
|
Pegasus |
|
Pegasus was a beautiful white winged horse that could fly. A creature of Greek myth, a hybrid. As beautiful as Pegasus was, his beginnings into this world were less glamorous. He was the off spring of the ill fated Medusa and Poseidon. He sprang from the blood of Medusa, a wicked creature slain by Perseus when her head was cut off. He immediately took flight and left this violent and sad world to frolic with the gods. There are two ways that Pegasus came to his name, either by springing forth from Medusa's blood, or by kicking a hole in Mount Helicon, which is where the Hippocrene spring came. The Hippocrene spring was the divine waters which gave the Muses' inspiration. Pegasus's name (or vice versa), which derives from the Greek for "Spring". Zeus was very much delighted by Pegasus. He allowed Pegasus to live in his palace, where Pegasus became bearer of Zeus's lighting bolts. Pegasus helped Bellerophon in slaying the monstrous Chimera. But Bellerophon became puffed up, and tried to use Pegasus to go to the heavens. As the story goes, Zeus used a huge horse fly to rile Pegasus, which could have been the way Bellerophon fell off him. Pegasus kept flying ultimately taking his final home among the stars, which now the constellation bears his name. |