Pegasus
Winged divine horse born from the blood of Medusa who carried Bellerophon against the Chimaera
The Myth of Pegasus
Pegasus was the winged horse who sprang from the neck of the Gorgon Medusa when Perseus beheaded her, born alongside the warrior Chrysaor from her mingled blood and the seed of Poseidon. Pegasus flew to Mount Helicon, where his hoof-strike created the Hippocrene spring sacred to the Muses. The hero Bellerophon sought to tame Pegasus to fight the Chimaera, the fire-breathing monster terrorising Lycia. Athena appeared to Bellerophon in a dream and gave him a golden bridle. With this divine gift he found Pegasus drinking at the spring of Pirene in Corinth and bridled him. Mounted on Pegasus, Bellerophon flew above the Chimaera and drove a lead-tipped spear into its throat, the fire melting the lead and choking the beast. After further victories, Bellerophon attempted to fly to Olympus itself, but Zeus sent a gadfly that stung Pegasus, throwing the rider to earth. Pegasus continued to Olympus and became a constellation.
Parents
Poseidon and Medusa
Symbols
Fun Fact
After Bellerophon's fall, Pegasus reached Olympus and was given the honour of carrying Zeus's thunderbolts
Explore Further
Pegasus
🐉 creatureWinged divine horse
The immortal winged horse that sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus beheaded her. Pegasus was tamed by Bellerophon and later became a constellation.
Pegazos
🐉 creaturesky,horses
The winged horse born from Medusa's blood when Perseus decapitated her, later tamed by Bellerophon and used to kill the Chimera, before ascending to become a constellation.
Pegasus
🐉 creatureWinged horse of inspiration
Pegasus was the immortal winged horse born from Medusa's blood whose hoof-strike created the Hippocrene spring of poetic inspiration.
Arion
🐉 creatureSpeed, divinity
Supernaturally fast divine horse born from Poseidon and Demeter, later ridden by the hero Adrastus
Centaurs
🐉 creatureHalf-human, half-horse beings
A race of beings with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Most were wild and unruly, but the wise Chiron was the exception — teacher of heroes.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroTamer of Pegasus, slayer of the Chimera
The hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and used him to slay the monstrous Chimera. His story is a cautionary tale about hubris.
Xanthus
🐉 creatureSpeed, prophecy
Immortal horse of Achilles gifted with speech who prophesied his master's death at Troy
Bellerophon and Chimera
💭 conceptNarrative
The hero's aerial battle against a fire-breathing monster while riding the winged horse Pegasus
Balius
🐉 creatureSpeed, immortality
One of the two immortal horses of Achilles, born of the West Wind and the harpy Podarge
Bellerophon and Pegasus
🗡 herohubris, fall
The hero who tamed Pegasus and slew the Chimera but was destroyed by his own hubris when he tried to fly to Olympus.
Glaucus of Corinth
🗡 heroHorses, Hybris, Divine Punishment
Corinthian king and charioteer who fed his mares on human flesh; they devoured him during the funeral games of Pelias.