Pegasus (Ancient Greek: Πήγασος, Pḗgasos) is a winged horse of Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon in his role as horse-god and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa, springing — together with his brother Chrysaor — from her blood when Perseus decapitated her. After his birth he ascended to heaven, where he served Zeus by bringing thunder and lightning from Olympus. Captured by the hero Bellerophon near the spring Peirene with the help of Athena, Pegasus carried him to defeat the Chimera and was eventually honored as a constellation.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Pegasus" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Springs
According to early myths, everywhere the winged horse struck his hoof to the earth an inspiring water spring burst forth. One of these springs was on the Muses' Mount Helicon, the Hippocrene ("horse spring").
Antoninus Liberalis suggested that the Hippocrene was opened at the behest of Poseidon to prevent the mountain from swelling with rapture at the song of the Muses. Another spring associated with Pegasus was at Troezen. Hesiod relates how Pegasus was peacefully drinking from a spring when the hero Bellerophon captured him.
II.Thunderbolts
Hesiod wrote that Pegasus carried thunderbolts for Zeus.
On Roman iconography, McCartney examines early Roman aes signatum (cast bronze currency) that pairs Pegasus with an eagle carrying a thunderbolt. He interprets this imagery in light of literary traditions describing Pegasus as bearing Zeus's thunder or drawing the god's storm chariot, suggesting that Roman iconography viewed Pegasus as linked to divine power and storm symbolism.
III.Birth
There are several versions of the birth of the winged stallion and his brother Chrysaor in the far distant place at the edge of Earth — Hesiod's "springs of Oceanus," which encircle the inhabited earth, where Perseus found Medusa.
In one version they sprang from the blood issuing from Medusa's neck as Perseus was beheading her, similar to the manner in which Athena was born from the head of Zeus. In another, when Perseus beheaded Medusa the brothers were born of the Earth as the Gorgon's blood fell upon it.
A variation holds that they were formed from the mingling of Medusa's blood, pain, and sea foam, implying that Poseidon had involvement in their making. This last version bears resemblance to Hesiod's account of the birth of Aphrodite from the foam created when the severed genitals of Uranus were cast into the sea by Cronus.
IV.Bellerophon
Pegasus aided the hero Bellerophon in his fight against the Chimera. There are varying tales about how Bellerophon found Pegasus; the most common is that the hero was told by Polyeidos to sleep in the temple of Athena, where the goddess visited him in the night and presented him with a golden bridle. The next morning, still clutching the bridle, Bellerophon found Pegasus drinking at the Pierian spring, caught him, and eventually tamed him.
Hubbard discusses multiple ancient accounts of Pegasus's capture, including versions in Hesiod, Pindar, and Corinthian cult tradition. He highlights Athena's role in providing the bridle that allowed Pegasus to be tamed and connects this motif to the Corinthian cult of Athena Hippia/Chalinitis. Hubbard also notes Pegasus's appearance on early Corinthian coinage, where the winged horse served as a civic symbol.
V.Perseus
Michaud's Biographie universelle relates that when Pegasus was born he flew to where thunder and lightning are released. Then, according to certain versions of the myth, Athena tamed him and gave him to Perseus, who flew to Ethiopia to help Andromeda.
VI.Olympus
After Bellerophon fell off Pegasus while trying to reach Olympus, Pegasus and Athena left him and continued to Olympus, where he was stabled with other steeds belonging to Zeus and given the task of carrying Zeus's thunderbolts, along with other members of the god's entourage, Astrape and Bronte.
Because of his years of faithful service to Zeus, Pegasus was later honored with transformation into a constellation. On the day of his catasterism, when Zeus turned him into a constellation, a single feather was said to have fallen to Earth near the city of Tarsus.
Lobell and Powell situate Pegasus within the wider Indo-European tradition of divine or supernatural horses, noting that his transformation into a constellation reflects ancient associations between equine imagery and seasonal renewal, with the Pegasus constellation linked to the arrival of spring in several early traditions.
VII.Legacy
In British heraldry the pegasus became a common element, appearing chiefly as a supporter or crest; a pegasus rampant features on the arms of the Inner Temple. During World War II the silhouetted image of Bellerophon mounted on Pegasus was adopted in 1941 as the upper-sleeve insignia of the United Kingdom's newly raised parachute troops, symbolizing a warrior arriving at battle by air. The maroon background of the badge later gave rise to the airborne forces' maroon beret, and the bridge over the Caen Canal captured by British 6th Airborne Division during the Normandy invasion has been known ever since as Pegasus Bridge.
The Pegasus has been a symbol of Tuscany ever since Benvenuto Cellini incorporated it in a coin made in 1537 to honor Cardinal Pietro Bembo; it still appears on the Tuscan flag and coat of arms. In popular culture the winged horse serves as a recognizable corporate emblem, used by Pegasus Airlines, Mobil Oil, and TriStar Pictures, and lent its name to Ecuador's Pegaso weather satellite.