Pegasus

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Silver denarius of Domitian with Pegasus on the reverse, dated 79–80 AD
Silver denarius of Domitian with Pegasus on the reverse, dated 79–80 AD

Pegasus (Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood when their mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets wrote about his ascent to heaven after his birth and his obeisance to Zeus, who instructed him to bring lightning and thunder from Olympus.

Pegasus is the creator of Hippocrene, the fountain on Mount Helicon. He was captured by the Greek hero Bellerophon, near the fountain Peirene, with the help of Athena and Poseidon. Pegasus allowed Bellerophon to ride him in order to defeat the monster Chimera, which led to many more exploits. Bellerophon later fell from Pegasus's back while trying to reach Mount Olympus. Both Pegasus and Bellerophon were said to have died at the hands of Zeus for trying to reach Olympus. Other tales have Zeus bring Pegasus to Olympus to carry his thunderbolts.

Long honored as a constellation, Pegasus is a subject of very rich iconography, especially through ancient Greek pottery as well as paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance.

Etymology

The poet Hesiod presents a folk etymology of the name Pegasus as derived from Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Transliteration 'spring, well', referring to "the pegai of Okeanos, where he was born".[1]

A proposed etymology of the name is Luwian Template:Transliteration 'lightning', and Template:Transliteration, a local Luwian-Hittite name in southern Cilicia of a weather deity associated with thunder and lightning. The proponents of this etymology adduce the role of Pegasus, reported as early as Hesiod, as the bringer of thunderbolts to Zeus. That interpretation was first suggested in 1952 and remains widely accepted,[2] but Robin Lane Fox (2009) has criticized it as implausible.[3]

Springs

According to early myths, everywhere the winged horse struck his hoof to the earth, an inspiring water spring burst forth. One of these springs was upon the Muses' Mount Helicon, the Hippocrene ("horse spring").[4] Antoninus Liberalis suggested,[5] that it was opened at the behest of Poseidon to prevent the mountain from swelling with rapture at the song of the Muses. Another spring associated with Pegasus was at Troezen.[6] Hesiod relates how Pegasus was peacefully drinking from a spring when the hero Bellerophon captured him.

Thunderbolts

Hesiod wrote that Pegasus carried thunderbolts for Zeus.[7]

Roman iconography

McCartney examines early Roman aes signatum (cast bronze currency) that pairs Pegasus with an eagle carrying a thunderbolt. He interprets this imagery in light of literary traditions that describe Pegasus as bearing Zeus’s thunder or drawing the god’s storm chariot, suggesting that Roman iconography viewed Pegasus as linked to divine power and storm symbolism.[8]

Birth

There are several versions of the birth of the winged stallion and his brother Chrysaor in the far distant place at the edge of Earth, Hesiod's "springs of Oceanus", which encircles the inhabited earth, where Perseus found Medusa:

One is that they sprang from the blood issuing from Medusa's neck as Perseus was beheading her,[9] similar to the manner in which Athena was born from the head of Zeus after he swallowed her pregnant mother.

In another version, when Perseus beheaded Medusa, the brothers were born of the Earth, when the Gorgon's blood fell upon her. A variation of this story holds that they were formed from the mingling of Medusa's blood, pain, and sea foam, implying that Poseidon had involvement in their making.

The last version bears resemblance to Hesiod's account of the birth of Aphrodite from the foam created when the severed genitals of Uranus were cast into the sea by Cronus.

Pedigree of Pegasus
Sire
Poseidon 		Cronus Uranus Gaïa or Nyx
Gaïa or Nyx
Gaïa Chaos
Chaos
Rhea Uranus Gaïa or Nyx
Gaïa or Nyx
Gaïa Chaos
Chaos
Dam
Medusa 		Phorcys Pontus Ether or Uranus
Gaïa
Gaïa Chaos
Chaos
Ceto Pontus Ether or Uranus
Gaïa
Gaïa Chaos
Chaos

Bellerophon

File:Bellerophon Khimaira Louvre A478.jpg
Bellerophon fighting the Chimera on an Athenian black-figure Siana cup found in Camiros (Rhodes)

Template:Multiple image Pegasus aided the hero Bellerophon in his fight against the Chimera. There are varying tales about how Bellerophon found Pegasus; the most common[10] being that the hero was told by Polyeidos to sleep in the temple of Athena, where the goddess visited him in the night and presented him with a golden bridle. The next morning, still clutching the bridle, Bellerophon found Pegasus drinking at the Pierian spring, caught him, and eventually tamed him.

Ancient interpretations

Hubbard discusses multiple ancient accounts of Pegasus’s capture, including versions in Hesiod, Pindar, and Corinthian cult tradition. He highlights Athena’s role in providing the bridle that allowed Pegasus to be tamed and connects this motif to the Corinthian cult of Athena Hippia/Chalinitis. Hubbard also notes Pegasus’s appearance on early Corinthian coinage, where the winged horse served as a civic symbol.[11]

Perseus

Michaud's Biographie universelle relates that when Pegasus was born, he flew to where thunder and lightning are released. Then, according to certain versions of the myth, Athena tamed him and gave him to Perseus, who flew to Ethiopia to help Andromeda.[12]

Olympus

File:Statère représentant Pégase.jpg
Silver coin of Syracuse: obverse, head of Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet adorned with a griffin; reverse, Pegasus flying and beneath him a triskeles

After Bellerophon fell off Pegasus while trying to reach Olympus, Pegasus and Athena left him and continued to Olympus where he was stabled with other steeds belonging to Zeus, and was given the task of carrying Zeus's thunderbolts, along with other members of his entourage, his attendants/handmaidens/shield bearers/shieldmaidens, Astrape and Bronte.

Because of his years of faithful service to Zeus, Pegasus was later honoured with transformation into a constellation.[13] On the day of his catasterism, when Zeus transformed him into a constellation, a single feather fell to Earth near the city of Tarsus.[14]

Indo-European context

Lobell and Powell situate Pegasus within the wider Indo-European tradition of divine or supernatural horses. They note that Pegasus’s transformation into a constellation reflects ancient associations between equine imagery and seasonal renewal, with the Pegasus constellation linked to the arrival of spring in several early traditions.[15]

Legacy

In heraldry

The pegasus became a common element in British heraldry, appearing chiefly as a supporter or a crest. Pegasi may also appear upon escutcheons, although this is rare. A pegasus rampant is featured on the arms of the Inner Temple, while those of the Richardson family contain a rare depiction of a pegasus sejant.[16]

World War II emblem

During World War II, the silhouetted image of Bellerophon the warrior, mounted on the winged Pegasus, was adopted by the United Kingdom's newly raised parachute troops in 1941 as their upper sleeve insignia.

File:British Airborne Units.svg
The emblem of the World War II, British Airborne Forces, Bellerophon riding the flying horse Pegasus

The image clearly symbolized a 67 warrior arriving at a battle by air, the same tactics used by paratroopers. The square upper-sleeve insignia comprised Bellerophon/Pegasus in light blue on a maroon background. One source suggests that the insignia was designed by famous English novelist Daphne du Maurier, who was wife of the commander of the 1st Airborne Division (and later the expanded British Airborne Forces), General Frederick "Boy" Browning. According to the British Army Website, the insignia was designed by the celebrated East Anglian painter Major Edward Seago in May 1942. The maroon background on the insignia was later used again by the Airborne Forces when they adopted the famous maroon beret in Summer 1942. The beret was the origin of the German nickname for British airborne troops, the Red Devils. Today's Parachute Regiment carries on the maroon beret tradition. The selection process for the elite Parachute Regiment is called Pegasus Company (often abbreviated to "P Company").

In 2015 it was announced that the units of 16 Air Assault Brigade would once again use the Pegasus insignia after a 15-year hiatus.[17]

During the airborne phase of the Normandy invasion on the night of 5–6 June 1944, British 6th Airborne Division captured all its key objectives in advance of the seaborne assault, including the capture and holding at all costs of a vital bridge over the Caen Canal, near Ouistreham. In memory of their tenacity, the bridge has been known ever since as Pegasus Bridge.

Tuscany

File:Italian 16th Century (Attributed to Benvenuto Cellini), Pegasus on the Fountain Hippocrene (reverse), 1537-1547, NGA 45081.jpg
Benvenuto Cellini's 1537 coin.

The Pegasus has been a symbol of Tuscany ever since Benvenuto Cellini incorporated it in a coin made in 1537 to honor Cardinal Pietro Bembo.[18]

The Tuscan Committee of National Liberation during the German occupation of Italy also had a Pegasus as its emblem. The winged horse is still featured on the Tuscan flag and coat of arms.

File:Pegasus Airlines.JPG
Wing of the Pegasus Airlines plane

In popular culture

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The winged horse has provided an instantly recognizable corporate logo or emblem of inspiration. Ecuador launched its weather satellite, named Pegaso (Script error: No such module "IPA"., Pegasus in Spanish), on 26 April 2013 but it was damaged by Russian space debris.[19] Pegasus Airlines (Turkish: Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.) is a low-cost airline headquartered in the Kurtköy area of Pendik, Istanbul, Turkey. Mobil Oil has had a Pegasus as its company logo since its affiliation with Magnolia Petroleum Company in the 1930s. TriStar Pictures famously uses a winged horse in their logo.

Gallery

See also

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References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Noted by Karl Kerényi, The Heroes of the Greeks, 1959:80: "In the name Pegasos itself the connection with a spring, pege, is expressed."
  2. ↑ The connection of Pegasus with Pihassas was suggested by H.T. Bossert, "Die phönikisch-hethitischen Bilinguen vom Karatepe", Jahrbuch für kleinasiatische Forschung, 2 1952/53:333, P. Frei, "Die Bellerophontessaga und das Alte Testament", in B. Janowski, K. Koch and G. Wilhelm, eds., Religionsgeschichtliche Beziehungen zwischen Kleinasien, Nordsyrien und der Alte Testament, 1993:48f, and Hutter, "Der luwische Wettergott pihašsašsi under der griechischen Pegasos", in Chr. Zinko, ed. Studia Onomastica et Indogermanica... 1995:79–98. Commentary was provided by R. S. P. Beekes in his Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 1183.
  3. ↑ "a storm god is not the origin of a horse. However, he had a like-sounding name, and Greek visitors to Cilicia may have connected their existing Pegasus with Zeus's lightning after hearing about this 'Pihassassi' and his functions and assuming, wrongly, he was their own Pegasus in a foreign land." Robin Lane Fox, Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009, Template:ISBN, pp. 207ff.
  4. ↑ Pausanias, 9. 31. 3.
  5. ↑ Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 9
  6. ↑ Pausanias, 2. 31. 9.
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ McCartney, Eugene S. “The Symbolism of Pegasus on Aera Signata.” American Journal of Archaeology 28, no. 1 (1924): 66–68.
  9. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 281; Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke 2. 42, et al. Harris, Stephen L. and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. (New York: Mayfield Publishing), 1998. 234.
  10. ↑ For example in Pindar, Olympian Ode 13.
  11. ↑ Hubbard, Thomas K. “Pegasus’ Bridle and the Poetics of Pindar’s Thirteenth Olympian.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 90 (1986): 27–48.
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Aratus, Phaenomena 206; Scott Littleton, Mythology. The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling London: Duncan Baird, 2002:147. Template:ISBN
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Lobell, Jarrett A., and Eric A. Powell. “The Story of the Horse.” Archaeology 68, no. 4 (2015): 28–33.
  16. ↑ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies. A Complete Guide to Heraldry, T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, 202, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft.
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Cbignore
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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