Harpies
Winged spirits who snatched away the living and defiled food with their filth, serving as agents of divine punishment.
The Myth of Harpies
The Harpies were wind-spirits with the bodies of birds and the faces of women, whose name means "snatchers." In the earliest traditions, they were simply personifications of sudden, violent gusts — the storm winds that carried people away without explanation. By the time of the Argonaut saga, they had become instruments of punishment: Zeus sent the Harpies to torment the blind seer Phineus by snatching away or befouling his food every time he tried to eat. When the Argonauts arrived at Phineus's court, the winged sons of Boreas — Calais and Zetes — chased the Harpies across the sky. In some versions, they pursued them to the Strophades islands, where Iris intervened and the Harpies swore to leave Phineus alone. Virgil later placed the Harpies on the Strophades in the Aeneid, where they attacked Aeneas's men and the Harpy Celaeno delivered a grim prophecy about their future hunger.
Parents
Thaumas and Electra
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word "harpy" — meaning a grasping, unpleasant person — comes directly from these mythological snatchers, preserving their reputation across millennia.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Harpy
🐉 creatureWind spirits of sudden snatching
The Harpies were winged spirits who snatched people and things away without warning, personifying the sudden destructive gusts of wind.
Venti
🐉 creaturepersonifications
The four wind gods — Boreas, Notus, Eurus, and Zephyrus — each ruling a cardinal direction
Aeolus
⚡ godwind
Keeper of the winds, appointed by Zeus to control the Anemoi from his floating island of Aeolia.
Gello
🐉 creaturechild-snatching, haunting
A female demon believed to steal and devour infants, originating from the ghost of a young woman who died before bearing children.
Cadmean Vixen
🐉 creaturecurses,beasts
A supernatural vixen cursed to never be caught, sent to terrorise the people of Thebes as divine punishment — an uncatchable fox that had to be fed a child each month.
Kobaloi
🐉 creaturespirits
Mischievous trickster spirits who plagued travellers and were associated with Dionysus
Aeolus
⚡ godKeeper of the winds
Aeolus kept winds in a leather bag on his floating island.
Arae
🐉 creatureCurses, vengeance
Spirits of curses who personified the destructive power of spoken imprecations and oaths
Notus
⚡ godwind
God of the south wind, bringer of late summer storms and the hot, damp winds feared by sailors and farmers.
Ixion
🗡 heropunishment
First human murderer of kin, who attempted to seduce Hera and was bound to an eternally spinning wheel of fire.
Aethon
🐉 creaturesky,punishment
A divine eagle, whose name means "blazing" or "burning", sent by Zeus to torment Prometheus by devouring his liver each day.
Phorcydes
🐉 creaturesea creatures
The monstrous children of Phorcys and Ceto, including the Gorgons, Graeae, and other terrors