Pegasus, the horse that soars through the galaxy
Pegasus is a majestic winged beast that soars throughout the galaxy. Greek mythology depicts it as pure white stead with beautiful golden wings, enabling it to fly. Pegasus has made its way to the constellations and is famously used in the Percy Jackson series and the Bey blade metal Saga.
Hi, I'm Hira, and this is the first section of myth-hunting.
Within Greek mythology, Pegasus is the offspring of Poseidon, the sea God, and Medusa, the Gorgon. Although Medusa was pregnant with Pegasus, she could not give birth because of the curse Athena, the wisdom Goddess, had put on her. So when Medusa was eventually slayed, Pegasus was born through the neck wounds of Medusa. There are different stories of what newborn Pegasus did after.
One adaptation of the story is that Pegasus went to mount Olympus and made it its home, where Zeus gave the horse the task to carry God's lightning and thunder. Athena tamed the beast, so mortals could use it.
Another form of the story suggests that Pegasus remained on Earth, where he served the heroes Bellerophon and Perseus. Although Pegasus could not be tamed, many tried. Then Athena gifted Bellerophon a golden bridle. Upon seeing the helmet, Pegasus enlisted himself to help Bellerophon in his battle against the chimera of Lucia. Now hailed as a hero, Bellerophon decided to make a trip and sent a gadfly to bite Pegasus, forcing him to drop Bellerophon.
In some versions, Bellorphon died from the fall, and in others, he survived but was cursed to roam the Earth, never to see Mount Olympus. Pegasus continued on, and as I mentioned, made Olympus his new home.
The hero Perseus also rode the Pegasus, when he journeyed to save the princess Andromeda, who he later married. Pegasus made a deep connection with the princess, as her constellation can be seen side by side with Pegasus.
It is said that Pegasus can make rivers and foundations by touching down on them. Nevertheless, Zeus decided that Pegasus should be immortalized and be landed among the stars. Its constellation can be seen in the autumn and spring season.
Pegasus is associated with creativity and inspiration to artists. Pegasus represents values of liberty, divine force, something free and pure, brave and beautiful. However, the meaning of the name Pegasus remains a mystery. One of the widespread opinions and interpretations associate the name with the term mighty or strong, but another connects the name with the Greek word for spring and well.
The religion of Islam mentions a beast which was used by the Prophet Muhammed to travel from Makkah to Jerusalem, then to the higher heavens. Then, the journey took 40 days by camel. However, the beast, called the "Burak" could travel as far as the eye could, and the journey took a single night. The Burak was described as a white animal, half mule and half donkey. This is thought to be Pegasus as well.
That's the end of the story. This is Hira, signing out. Tell me what you want to hear about in the next episode.
