Pegasus
Pegasos in transliterated Greek
The winged horse born from Medusa, ridden by Bellerophon against the Chimera, and placed by Hesiod in the house of Zeus.
Quick answer
Pegasus is the winged horse of Greek mythology. Hesiod says he sprang from Medusa when Perseus cut off her head, later lived with Zeus, and helped Bellerophon kill the Chimera; Pindar tells how Athena’s golden bridle enabled the hero to tame him.
Quick facts
| Tradition | Greek mythology |
|---|---|
| Parents in Hesiod | Medusa and Poseidon [1] |
| Sibling | Chrysaor |
| Source realm | Beyond Ocean, Olympus, and the Greek heroic world |
| Creature type | Divine winged horse |
| Known rider | Bellerophon |
| Defining feat | Helps Bellerophon defeat the fire-breathing Chimera |
| Divine role | Carries thunder and lightning for Zeus [1] |
What the source books say
In the Theogony, Medusa is the only mortal Gorgon. After Perseus cuts off her head, Chrysaor and Pegasus spring from her. Hesiod connects Pegasus’s name with the springs of Ocean, then says the horse leaves earth, reaches the immortals, dwells in Zeus’s house, and carries the god’s thunder and lightning.[1]
Hesiod later names Pegasus and Bellerophon together as the killers of the Chimera. Pindar expands their meeting: Bellerophon struggles to catch the horse at Peirene until Athena appears in a dream with a golden bridle. With Pegasus, he overcomes the Chimera and other enemies.[2]
Description and abilities
These sources identify Pegasus as a horse that flies on wings. Pindar calls him the offspring of the snake-haired Gorgon, while Hesiod describes his swift departure from earth. Neither selected passage assigns him a colour, so the familiar pure-white Pegasus should be treated as an artistic convention rather than a detail fixed by these texts.[1] [2]
- Has wings and can carry a rider through the air
- Is born at Medusa’s death alongside Chrysaor
- Can be controlled with Athena’s golden bridle
- Gives Bellerophon an advantage over the Chimera
- Moves between the mortal world and the dwelling of Zeus
Source realm: from Ocean to Olympus
Pegasus crosses several layers of Greek mythic geography. His birth belongs to the remote region of the Gorgons beyond Ocean; Pindar places his taming at the spring of Peirene in Corinth; the Chimera episode belongs to Bellerophon’s heroic travels; and Hesiod finally locates the horse in Zeus’s divine household.
Role in the myths
A creature born from catastrophe
Pegasus’s arrival is inseparable from Perseus’s killing of Medusa, yet Hesiod immediately sends the horse upward from the mortal earth toward the gods.
Divine help made visible
Bellerophon cannot master Pegasus by effort alone. Pindar’s golden bridle turns Athena’s intervention into the practical means by which the hero succeeds.
The advantage of flight
Pegasus changes the shape of the Chimera encounter. The winged horse carries Bellerophon into battle against a fire-breathing monster.
Books and references
- 1Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Loeb Classical Library, 1914. See Theogony, lines 270–294 and 319–325.
Project Gutenberg edition ↗ - 2The Extant Odes of Pindar
Translated by Ernest Myers. Macmillan, 1874. See Olympian Ode 13, especially the Bellerophon episode.
Project Gutenberg edition ↗