Pegasus the Legendary Winged Horse. When the Gorgon Medusa was decapitated by the hero Perseus, Pegasus and his brother, Chrysoar, were born from the mix of seafoam and blood. Ridden by Perseus, he carried the hero over the sea and aided in the defeat of Cetus, the Sea-dragon, and the rescue of the Princess Andromeda. After this adventure, the young colt was gathered by Athena (Minerva) and carried to Mt. Helicon where she entrusted the Muses with his care. In his excitement young Pegasus struck the ground with his hooves and cause the springs of Aganippe and Hippocrene to gush forth their bounty of inspiration. Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and Universal Love (also an aspect of Aphrodite) showed the most interest in his rearing. Prophesying of his future heroic deeds and eventual celestial honor she grieved the most when Bellerophon, at Athena's beckoning, came to take Pegasus away from Mt. Helicon. After the many long years of heroic deeds Pegasus had accomplished in the companionship of Bellerophon, and the hero's thankless death, Urania was enraptured by Pegasus' triumphant arrival to Mt. Olympus. The tragic ending of the tale of Bellerophon would seem to be a shrewd illustration of the folly of assuming that something or someone is subject to our will and cannot function successfully without us. The Greeks may have also attempted to tell us that simply being a member of the human race does not, in itself, warrant our acceptance into the transcendental realms. The simple fact that it was the Horse and not the Man must surely convey something of the status of man in the universal scheme of things. Pegasus went on to become the occasional mount of the goddess Eos (Aurora) on her mission to bring forth the Dawn. At other times he was ridden by Apollo (Phoebus) as he brought the sun across the sky. And, even more importantly, Pegasus served as Zeus' Lightening bearer, when Pegasus' own hooves could be heard thundering across the skies in a storm. As a tribute to his exceptional life and heroic deeds, Zeus honored Pegasus with a constellation in the sky. According to an amalgam of several other myths stemming from Cheiron's progeny, there is a formidable afterlife for Pegasus involving a wife, Euippe (or Ocyrrhoe), and two children, Celeris and Melanippe. In poetry, the phrase "My Pegasus will not go this morning" means the author's brain will not work (lacks inspiration), and "I am mounting my Pegasus" means he's going to write (he's becoming inspired), and "I am on my Pegasus" means he's engaged in writing.
Thank you for coming. I hope you have learned and enjoyed.
