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Bellerophon riding Pegasus (1914)
In
Greek mythology,
Pegasus (
Greek: Πήγασος,
Pégasos) was a winged horse sired by
Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the
Gorgon Medusa.
[1] He was the brother of
Chrysaor, born at a single birthing. By extension, the term Pegasus can also refer to any winged horse.
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[edit] EtymologyThe poet
Hesiod connects the name
Pegasus with the word for "spring, well",
pēgē: "the
pegai of
Okeanos, where he was born;"
[2] however, the name has an aural parallel with a word in the
Luwian language pihassas, meaning "lightning", and
Pihassassi, a local Luwian-Hittite name in southern Cilicia of a weather god represented with thunder and lightning.
[3]Robin Lane Fox observes "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."
[4] Fox suggests that the connection does explain Pegasus' role, reported as early as
Hesiod, as bringer of thunderbolts to Zeus, otherwise inexplicable.
Pegasus, as the horse of Muses, was put on the roof of Poznań Opera House (
Max Littmann, 1910)
[edit] Pegasus and springsEverywhere the winged horse struck his hoof to the earth, an inspiring spring burst forth. One of these springs was upon the
Muses'
Mount Helicon, the
Hippocrene ("horse spring"),
[5] opened,
Antoninus Liberalis suggested,
[6] at the behest of Poseidon to prevent the mountain swelling with rapture at the song of the Muses; another was at
Troezen.
[7] Hesiod relates how Pegasus was peacefully drinking from a spring when the hero
Bellerophon captured him. Hesiod also says Pegasus carried
thunderbolts for
Zeus.
[edit] BirthThere 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,
[8]similar to the manner in which Athena was born from the head of Zeus.
In another version, when Perseus beheaded Medusa, they were born of the
Earth, fed by the Gorgon's blood. A variation of this story holds that
they were formed from the mingling of Medusa's blood and sea foam,
implying that Poseidon had involvement in their making. The last
version bears resemblance to the birth of
Aphrodite.
[edit] BellerophonPegasus aided the hero
Bellerophon in his fight against both the
Chimera and the
Amazons. There are varying tales as to how Bellerophon found Pegasus; the most common
[9] says 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, he found
Pegasus drinking at the
Pierian spring.
[10]When the steed saw the bridle, he approached Bellerophon and allowed
him to ride. Bellerophon slew the Chimera on Pegasus' back, and then
tried to ride the winged horse to the top of
Mount Olympus to see the gods. However, Zeus sent down a
gadfly to sting Pegasus and cause Bellerophon to fall.
[11][edit] Perseus
Parthian era bronze plate depicting Pegasus ("Pegaz" in Persian), excavated in
Masjed Soleyman,
Khūzestān,
Iran.
Michaud's
Biographie universelle relates that when Pegasus
was born, he flew to where thunder and lightning is 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]In fact Pegasus is a late addition to the story of Perseus, who flew on his own with the sandals loaned him by
Hermes.
[edit] OlympusPegasus left Bellerophon and continued to Olympus where he was stabled with
Zeus' other steeds, and was given the task of carrying
Zeus' thunderbolts
[edit] CatasterismBecause of his faithful service to Zeus, he was honored with transformation into a
constellation.
[13] On the day of his
catasterism, when Zeus transformed him into a constellation, a single feather fell to the earth near the city of
Tarsus.
[14][edit] Legacy[edit] World War II
Bellerophon on Pegasus spears the
Chimera, on an
Attic red-figure epinetron 425–420 BC
The divisional shoulder flash of British airborne forces
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.
The image clearly symbolized a 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. The insignia was designed by famous
English novelist
Daphne du Maurier, who was married to the commander of the
1st Airborne Division (and later the expanded British Airborne Forces), General
Frederick "Boy" Browning.
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.
During the
airborne phase of the
Normandy invasion on the night of 5–6 June 1944,
British 6th Airborne Divisioncaptured 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.
[edit] Corporate and commercial usesPegasus logo has been used for over 29 years, by Courier Company
Pegasus Express Ltd, and is seen on all vehicles and trailers, and
depots in Scotland/England.
Pegasus has been the symbol of the
Mobil brand of gas and oil, marketed by the
Exxon Mobil Corporation, since the 1930s and, more recently,
FBR Capital Markets, an investment bank based in
Arlington,
Virginia.
[15] As such, it has also been a symbol of
Dallas,
Texas, gracing its skyline atop the
Magnolia building and in
Pegasus Plaza.
The
Poetry Foundation also uses Pegasus as its logo; the
Buell Motorcycle Company uses Pegasus as a visual branding element. The former
Pegaso truck maker from
Spain derived its name and logo from Pegasus, although the logo portrayed a merely fast, wingless horse silhouette.
Reader's Digest also has a Pegasus logo.
A Pegasus is the emblem of the Honourable Society of the
Inner Temple, which names its bar the Pegasus.
Pegasus is the
University of Exeter's
Classics and Ancient History Departmental Journal. It has had many
entries from notable Classicists as well as two articles from
J. K. Rowling a former student of the University's Classics and Ancient History Department.
[16]The
Taiwanese company
Asus took its name from the creature, omitting the first three letters in order for the company to appear first in
telephone listings.
Mascot of the
Kentucky Derby Festival, a community celebration leading up to the Run for the Roses (aka: the
Kentucky Derby) in
Louisville,
Kentucky,
USA.
Turkish Pegasus Airlines uses the emblem of Pegasus, and Pegasus also appears in the turbines of all
Air France aircraft.
PEGASYS (
Hoffmann–La Roche) for the treatment of
hepatitis C, is a once-a-week injection that works to reduce the amount of hepatitis C virus in the body.
Pegasus is the mascot of
TriStar Pictures.
Pegasus is the name of a
medevac helicopter based at the
University of Virginia Medical Center. Pegasus
[17] transports critically injured patients within 120
NM (220 km; 140 mi) of
Charlottesville,
Virginia. The name was chosen because it was different from most other
medevac programs, and there are stories of Pegasus carrying wounded
soldiers from battle.
[18]Pegasus is also featured on the
coat of arms of
Robinson College, part of the
University of Cambridge in
Cambridge,
England. The
University of Strathclyde, in
Glasgow Scotland, uses an online service called PEGASUS (Portal Engine Giving Access To
Strathclyde University Systems)to provide its students with crucial information. Pegasus was chosen for the academic seal of the
University of Central Florida, in 1963, by its first president,
Dr. Charles Millican, who co-designed it.
Nike Inc. has produced a brand of running shoe named the Air Pegasus 26.
Pegasus Mail is the name of an email client.
[edit] Popular cultureMain article:
Greek mythology in popular culture#PegasusThe winged horse that has provided an instantly recognizable
corporate logo or emblem of inspiration, has found many uses in
market-driven popular culture.
[edit] TheatreIn the Broadway production of
Xanadu, protagonist Kira rides on Pegasus to Mount Olympus during the number "Suspended in Ti
Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:21 am by mianmani
Subject: Pegasus 
