Harpy
The Harpies were winged spirits who snatched people and things away without warning, personifying the sudden destructive gusts of wind.
The Myth of Harpy
The Harpies were wind spirits, daughters of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra — sisters of Iris, Hera's rainbow messenger. Originally described by Homer and Hesiod as swift and beautiful, they later became foul bird-women with sharp talons, carrying off food and souls alike. Their most famous torment targeted the blind prophet Phineus of Thrace: whenever he sat to eat, the Harpies snatched his food, befouling what remained. When Jason and the Argonauts arrived, the winged sons of Boreas — Zetes and Calais — chased the Harpies across the sky. Zeus (or Iris) intervened, making the Harpies swear to leave Phineus in peace. In the Odyssey, they are blamed for snatching the daughters of Pandareus to serve the Furies.
Parents
Thaumas and Electra
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word "harpy" entered English meaning a grasping, unpleasant person — and "harpoon" may derive from the same Greek root harpazein, "to snatch."
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
Harpies
🐉 creaturestorm winds, punishment
Winged spirits who snatched away the living and defiled food with their filth, serving as agents of divine punishment.
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.
Zetes and Calais
🗡 heroflight
Winged sons of Boreas who joined the Argonauts and chased the Harpies away from the blind prophet Phineus.
Kobaloi
🐉 creaturespirits
Mischievous trickster spirits who plagued travellers and were associated with Dionysus
Sileni
🐉 creaturewilderness, Dionysus
Elderly, pot-bellied woodland spirits closely related to Satyrs, often depicted drunk and riding donkeys in the retinue of Dionysus.
Lamia
🐉 creatureChild-devouring queen turned monster
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya whom Zeus loved; when Hera killed her children in jealousy, Lamia was driven mad and became a child-snatching monster.
Sphinx
🐉 creatureRiddler and strangler of Thebes
The Greek Sphinx was a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion who posed a deadly riddle to all who approached Thebes.
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.
Oreithyia
🗡 heroabduction
Athenian princess abducted by the North Wind Boreas, mother of the winged Argonauts Zetes and Calais.
Phineus the Seer
🗡 heroprophecy
Blind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the Argonauts freed him.
Siren Songs
🐉 creatureBird-women whose song lured sailors to death
The Sirens were creatures — part bird, part woman — whose irresistible song lured sailors to crash on their island's rocks.
Calais
🗡 heroWind, flight
Winged son of Boreas the North Wind who sailed with the Argonauts and drove off the Harpies