In Greek mythology, Aello (Ancient Greek: Ἀελλώ, "storm-swift") is one of the Harpies, daughter of the sea-god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, and sister of Ocypete, Iris, and — in later lists — Celaeno. Like her sisters she personifies snatching storm-winds; Homer's Podarge (often identified with Aello) bore Achilles's immortal horses Balius and Xanthus to Zephyrus. Ovid names Aello among the harpies encountered by Aeneas after the fall of Troy.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Aello" and "Harpy" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Identity and names
Aello is a Harpy and the daughter of the sea-god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Her harpy-sisters were Ocypete and Celaeno; other mentioned siblings were Iris, and possibly Arke and Hydaspes. She was also known as Aellopus, Aellope, Podarge, Podarce, and Nicothoë.
Aello was claimed to be the mother of Achilles's immortal steeds Balius and Xanthus by Zephyrus — a maternity Homer assigns to Podarge, whom later tradition often identifies with Aello. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Aello was the harpy encountered by Aeneas' company in their wanderings after the fall of Troy.
II.The Harpies
Harpies are half-human, half-bird creatures often understood as personifications of storm winds. Hesiod imagined them as fair-locked winged maidens who flew as fast as the wind and named two of them: Ocypete and Aello. Later writers turned them into ever more disgusting monsters who stole food, fouled banquets, and served as agents of divine punishment.
Their most famous narrative involves King Phineus of Thrace: the harpies snatched his food until the Argonauts' Boreads drove them off. Virgil later placed harpies — including Celaeno — on the Strophades islands in the path of Aeneas.