Pegasus

Who Was Pegasus?

Pegasus was an immortal winged horse of Greek mythology, born when Perseus cut off the head of the Gorgon Medusa. He was the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and of Medusa, and he came into the world alongside a brother, Chrysaor, who was born holding a golden blade. For a time the wild horse belonged to the mortal hero Bellerophon, who rode him against the Chimaera, the Solymi and the Amazons; afterwards Pegasus flew to Mount Olympus, where, in Hesiod’s words, he dwells in the house of Zeus and brings him thunder and lightning (Hesiod, Theogony 280–286).

Family and Background

Pegasus’ parentage placed him among the most striking unions in Greek myth. Hesiod says that Poseidon lay with Medusa “in a soft meadow amid spring flowers”, and that when Perseus cut off her head, great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus sprang forth (Theogony 276–281). Apollodorus likewise calls Pegasus the offspring of Medusa and Poseidon (Library 2.3.2), and Ovid has the blood of Medusa give birth to winged Pegasus and his brother (Metamorphoses 4.785–786). The brothers went separate ways: Chrysaor later became the father of the three-headed Geryon by Callirrhoe, daughter of Ocean (Theogony 287–288), while Pegasus alone is the subject of the myths that follow.

What Does the Name Pegasus Mean?

According to Hesiod, Pegasus is so called because he was born “near the springs (pegai) of Ocean” (Theogony 282–283). In the same passage Chrysaor takes his name from the golden blade (aor) he held in his hands.

Was Pegasus Immortal?

Yes. Hesiod says that Pegasus left the earth and came to the deathless gods (Theogony 284–285), and Pindar says that he found a home in the ancient stalls of Zeus on Olympus (Olympian 13.92). When Bellerophon was thrown from his back, it was the rider, not the horse, who fell: Pindar says that winged Pegasus threw his master Bellerophon when he wished to enter the heavenly dwellings and join the company of Zeus (Isthmian 7.44–47).

Where Did Pegasus Live?

Pegasus’ life carried him through several places. He was born near the streams of Ocean, at the edge of the world. In his wild youth he was seen at Corinth, where Bellerophon waited for him at the spring of Peirene (Pindar, Olympian 13.63–66; Strabo 8.6.21). Once tamed, he carried Bellerophon to Lycia and back. Finally he flew to Mount Olympus, where Zeus keeps him (Hesiod, Theogony 284–286; Pindar, Olympian 13.92).

The Birth of Pegasus

Pegasus’ story begins in violence, at the very moment of his mother’s death.

A Miraculous Birth from Medusa

When Perseus cut off the head of Medusa, Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor sprang forth (Hesiod, Theogony 280–281). Ovid, who has Perseus describe the scene himself, says that Pegasus and his brother were born from the blood of the Gorgon, “twins of rapid wing” (Metamorphoses 4.785–786). Strabo likewise says that the winged horse sprang from the neck of Medusa when the Gorgon’s head was severed (8.6.21).

Born Near the Springs of Ocean

Hesiod places Pegasus’ birth near the springs of Ocean, the great river the Greeks believed encircled the known world. He explains the name through that birthplace (Theogony 282–283).

A Wild, Unridden Horse

After his birth, Pegasus flew away from the earth, and in Pindar’s account he lived untamed until Bellerophon came for him. It took the intervention of Athena to bring him under a rider’s control (Pindar, Olympian 13.63–86).

Pegasus and Water Springs

Long before he carried a hero into battle, Pegasus was known across Greece for the springs he was said to have raised.

The Gift of Poseidon

As the son of Poseidon, Pegasus is connected in several traditions with springs of water. At Corinth, Pausanias saw a statue of Bellerophon over a fountain, with the water flowing through the hoof of the horse Pegasus (2.3.5).

The Hippocrene Springs

Two famous springs in Greece were called Hippocrene, the “Horse’s Fountain”. The better known lay on Mount Helicon, about twenty stades above the grove of the Muses, and was said to have been produced when Pegasus struck the ground with his hoof (Pausanias 9.31.3); Strabo names the Hippocrene beside the sanctuary of the Muses (9.2.25) and tells the story of its making (8.6.21). Ovid has Athena, hearing of the new fountain, visit the Muses on Helicon, and one of them confirms that the fountain is the work of Pegasus, who sprang from the blood of Medusa and opened it by striking the ground with his hard hoof (Metamorphoses 5.250–268). The second Hippocrene was at Troezen, where the Troezenians told the same story: the earth sent up the water when Pegasus struck the ground with his hoof (Pausanias 2.31.9).

The Spring of Peirene

Pegasus was also associated with Peirene, the spring of Corinth. According to Pindar, Bellerophon suffered many things in longing to bridle the horse “at Peirene’s spring” until Athena brought him a bit with head-band of gold (Olympian 13.63–66). Strabo adds that, according to the story, Pegasus was taken by Bellerophon while drinking at Peirene (8.6.21).

Pegasus and Bellerophon

For a brief but eventful period, Pegasus belonged to a mortal, Bellerophon, son of Glaucus and grandson of Sisyphus (Apollodorus, Library 2.3.1).

The Taming of Pegasus

Pegasus was finally tamed by Bellerophon, though not by the hero’s strength alone. According to Pindar, Athena came to him as he slept and brought him a bit with a golden head-band; he woke to find the bridle in his hand, and with it he bridled the horse (Olympian 13.63–86). Pausanias saw a sanctuary of Athena Chalinitis (“Bridler”) at Corinth: Athena, he says, was the divinity who most helped Bellerophon, and she delivered Pegasus to him, having herself broken him in and bridled him (2.4.1).

Pegasus and Bellerophon’s Adventures

Riding on Pegasus, Bellerophon killed the fire-breathing Chimaera. Hesiod says Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slew her (Theogony 319–325), and Apollodorus has Bellerophon soaring on high and shooting the Chimaera down from above (Library 2.3.2). Pindar adds that he also smote the Amazons and the Solymi from the air (Olympian 13.87–90). In Apollodorus the king of Lycia, Iobates, sets him these tasks, hoping he will die, and when Bellerophon survives them all, Iobates gives him his daughter and the kingdom (Library 2.3.2).

The Stheneboea Episode

These labours began because of Stheneboea, wife of King Proetus (called Anteia in Homer). When Bellerophon rejected her advances, she told Proetus that he had made them; Proetus, unwilling to kill a guest himself, sent Bellerophon to her father Iobates with a letter that told Iobates to kill the bearer (Apollodorus, Library 2.3.1; Homer, Iliad 6.155–170). Pegasus is not part of this episode in Homer or Apollodorus.

Bellerophon’s Hubris

Bellerophon’s many victories led him to attempt more than a mortal may. Pindar says that he wished to enter the dwellings of heaven and join the company of Zeus (Isthmian 7.44–47), and Hyginus likewise says that he was flying toward heaven and was not far from it when he looked down at the earth, took fright and fell (Astronomica 2.18).

The Death of Bellerophon

Pindar says that winged Pegasus threw his master (Isthmian 7.44–47). The fate of Bellerophon afterwards is told differently: in Homer, he came to be hated by all the gods and wandered alone over the Aleian plain, eating his own heart and shunning the paths of men (Iliad 6.200–202). Hyginus says only that he fell and is said to have died there (Astronomica 2.18). Pegasus, freed of his rider, flew on to the stalls of Zeus (Pindar, Olympian 13.92).

Pegasus in the Heavens

Pegasus succeeded where Bellerophon had failed, arriving among the gods as a welcome guest.

A Riderless Horse Reaches the Gods

After the fall of Bellerophon, Pegasus did reach Mount Olympus, the home of Zeus and the other gods. Hesiod says that he left the earth and came to the deathless gods (Theogony 284–285).

Stabled by Zeus

Pindar says that Pegasus found a home in the ancient stalls of Zeus (Olympian 13.92). Hesiod says he dwells in the house of Zeus (Theogony 285).

Bearer of the Thunderbolts

Hesiod does not say that Pegasus pulls a chariot. His task for Zeus is to bring him the thunder and lightning (Theogony 285–286).

A Constellation Among the Stars

Hyginus says that the horse flew up and is thought to have been placed among the stars by Jupiter (Zeus), and that Aratus and many others named the constellation Pegasus, son of Neptune (Poseidon) and Medusa (Astronomica 2.18). In Hyginus’ description of the sky, the belly of the horse is joined to the head of Andromeda (Astronomica 3).

Pegasus’ Role and Symbolism

A Symbol of Poetic Inspiration

The Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon lay close to the grove of the Muses (Pausanias 9.31.3; Strabo 9.2.25), and in Ovid the Muses themselves show Athena the spring made by Pegasus (Metamorphoses 5.250–268). Through this spring the horse is linked in the sources to the Muses’ mountain.

A Steed for Heroes

As Bellerophon’s mount, Pegasus made the hero’s victories over the Chimaera, the Solymi and the Amazons possible (Pindar, Olympian 13.87–90; Apollodorus, Library 2.3.2).

An Instrument of Justice and of Downfall

Pegasus was also the means through which Bellerophon was thrown when he tried to reach heaven (Pindar, Isthmian 7.44–47).

A Servant of the Gods

Pegasus’ final role, bringing thunder and lightning to Zeus on Olympus (Hesiod, Theogony 285–286), marked his passage from a wild creature of nature into a servant of the gods.

Pegasus in Ancient Literature

Hesiod’s Theogony

Hesiod is the earliest surviving source to record Pegasus’ birth from Medusa and to explain the origin of his name, tying it to the Greek word for springs and to his birthplace near the springs of Ocean. He also says that Pegasus went to Olympus and that Pegasus and Bellerophon killed the Chimaera (Theogony 280–286, 319–325).

Pindar’s Thirteenth Olympian Ode

Pindar gives the fullest ancient account of Bellerophon’s taming of Pegasus, describing Athena’s gift of the golden bridle, the horse’s capture at Peirene, and his stabling on Olympus (Olympian 13.63–92). In the seventh Isthmian ode he tells that Pegasus threw Bellerophon when the hero tried to enter heaven (Isthmian 7.44–47).

Apollodorus’ Library

The Library offers a compact summary of Pegasus’ birth and of his adventures with Bellerophon (Library 2.3.1–2).

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Ovid recounts the making of the Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon by the strike of the winged horse’s hoof, in the passage where the Muses receive Athena on the mountain (Metamorphoses 5.250–268), and says that Pegasus sprang from the blood of Medusa (4.785–786).

Misconceptions and Lesser-Known Facts

Did Perseus Ride Pegasus?

Perseus is often pictured riding Pegasus in later art and in modern retellings, but that pairing is absent from the ancient sources. Perseus’ connection to Pegasus begins and ends at the moment of the horse’s birth, when he beheads Medusa (Hesiod, Theogony 280–281). In Ovid, Perseus flies through the air on whirring wings of his own, carrying the Gorgon’s head (Metamorphoses 4.615–620). It is Bellerophon, not Perseus, who tames and rides the winged horse.

Did Pegasus Find the Hippocrene Spring or Make It?

It is often assumed that Pegasus simply drank at the Hippocrene springs, but the ancient tradition credits him with raising them: the waters were said to have burst from the ground at the spot where his hoof struck (Pausanias 9.31.3, 2.31.9; Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.256–262).

Was Pegasus Tamed by Bellerophon Alone?

Bellerophon is often remembered as the sole tamer of Pegasus, but the ancient accounts give Athena the decisive part. In Pindar it was her gift of a golden bridle that made the capture possible, and in Pausanias she delivered Pegasus to Bellerophon already bridled (Olympian 13.63–86; Pausanias 2.4.1).

Did Pegasus Die With Bellerophon?

No. In Pindar it is Bellerophon who is thrown from his mount. Pegasus, immortal, flew on to Olympus and the stalls of Zeus, and many people today meet his name first not through the myth at all, but through the constellation (Pindar, Olympian 13.92; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.18).

Unraveling Pegasus: From a Gorgon’s Neck to the Stars

Pegasus’ story traces an unusual arc. Born at his mother’s death, he lived as a wild horse until Athena’s bridle brought him under Bellerophon’s hand, carried the hero against the Chimaera, the Solymi and the Amazons, threw him when he aimed at heaven, and ended in the stalls of Zeus (Hesiod, Theogony 280–286; Pindar, Olympian 13.63–92, Isthmian 7.44–47). Few figures in Greek mythology move so completely from the edge of the world to a fixed place in the night sky (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.18).

What endures about Pegasus is the range of roles he filled in the sources: the horse of the Muses’ spring, the mount of a hero, the means of that hero’s fall, and finally the bearer of Zeus’ thunder and lightning.

Pegasus Sources

Hesiod documents Pegasus’ birth and the origin of his name in the early passages of his “Theogony” (276–286, 319–325).

You can read the story of Bellerophon and Pegasus in Pindar’s 13th Olympian Ode, in the thirty or so verses beginning with the 60th, and in Isthmian 7.44–47. Ovid’s Metamorphoses (4.785–786, 5.250–268) preserves the story of the Hippocrene spring. Homer mentions Bellerophon without Pegasus (Iliad 6.155–202).

As is often the case, you can find an informed summary of it in Apollodorus’ “Library” (2.3.1–2). Pausanias (2.3.5, 2.4.1, 2.31.9, 9.31.3), Strabo (8.6.21, 9.2.25) and Hyginus (Astronomica 2.18) add local traditions and the constellation.

See Also: Bellerophon, Medusa, Poseidon, Chimaera, Chrysaor, Perseus, Zeus, Athena