Pegasus – The Winged White Horse of Greek Mythology

 

 

One of the most recognized creatures in Greek mythology is Pegasus, a mythical, winged white horse with magical powers.

Pegasus is said to have been born of the sea-god Poseidon and the blood of the gorgon Medusa after she was beheaded, on the island of Sarpedon, by Perseus the son of Zeus.

 

 

This mythical horse takes part in many Greek myths, usually the sort of search and rescue operation type!

 His most famous role by far is that of companion to Bellerophon, the Corinthian hero, slayer of monsters and legendary founder of Mycenae (in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese).

 

 

Pegasus and Bellerophon went on to have many adventures together resulting in countless victories for the brave couple, their most well-known victory being the slaying of the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster depicted with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail.

However, these occur after Perseus first brings Pegasus home to Corinth.

 

Pegasus and the Muses

 

 

In later times, Pegasus was looked upon as the horse of the Muses.

One day the nine Muses were said to have taken part in a contest with the nine Emathides, daughters of the king of Emathia in Macedonia, on Mount Helicon (The Mount of the Muses).

When the Emathides started to sing, Mount Helicon became enveloped in darkness, however, when the Muses began to sing, the heavens, the seas and all rivers came to a standstill and listened and as Mount Helicon began to rise upwards towards the heavens in a  state of euphoria, Poseidon instructed Pegasus to kick the mountain with his hoof to halt its swelling.

The kick from Pegasus created a crack in the mountain and from here flowed the Hippocrene, the inspiring well of the Muses.

 

Perseus and Andromeda

 

 

Legend has it that Perseus returned home to Corinth on the back of Pegasus after being summoned to the island of Seriphos by King King Polydectes in order to decapitate Medusa.

 As luck would have it Perseus was flying over Aethiopia on his legendary horse at the very moment Andromeda, daughter of king Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Aethiopia, was about to be devoured by Cetus, a sea monster.

Cassiopeia had boasted that her daughter, Andromeda, was better-looking than the beautiful sea nymphs; this statement brought about the wrath of the sea god Poseidon who sent the sea monster Cetus to destroy King Cepheus’ kingdom.

However, he told them, if they sacrificed their daughter, Andromeda, their kingdom and its people would be saved and so, Cassiopeia and Cepheus, had their daughter chained to a rock in easy reach of the sea monster.

 

 

Swooping down to the sea upon Pegasus, Perseus killed Cetus, headed home, married Andromeda, founded the city of Mycenae, which he ruled over with his bride and the two lived happily ever after.

When she died, Andromeda was honored by Athena, who placed the beautiful Queen in the sky as a constellation to be gazed upon forever.

Next to her, Athena placed her husband, Perseus, and her parents, Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

 

Pegasus and Bellerophon

 

 

Bellerophon’s (Originally known as Hipponous, meaning horse-knower) adventures began when he was exiled to Argos and placed under the protection of Proetus, king of Tiryns, after accidently slaying a fellow Corinthian named Belleros whilst practicing knife-throwing with his friends. (Another version would have it that it was his brother whom he killed)

Forever after he was referred to as Bellerophon (murderer of Belleros).

 

The Quest of Bellerophon

 

 

Bellerophon had not been long in Argos before Stheneboia, the wife of Proetus, king  of Tiryns, took a shine to him, however, after he rejected her advances, she accused him of “ravishing” her.

Proetus was livid but dare not kill a guest (who is protected by xenia the Ancient Greek idea of hospitality), so he sent Bellerophon to King Iobates, his father-in-law in Lycia, together with a sealed letter, which read:

“Pray remove the bearer from this world: he attempted to violate my wife, your daughter”.

Iobates welcomed Bellerophon, put the letter to one side and promptly forgot about it.

Nine days later, after much feasting and merriment with his guest, Iobates found and opened the message; his heart sank on reading the words; apart from the fact that he had grown fond of the chap, he too was afraid to kill a guest, what to do?

Iobates devised a plan: he would send Bellerophon on a mission he considered impossible: to kill the Chimera, the monster terrorizing his countryside; he was sure the Chimera would instead kill Bellerophon, which would please Proetus and remove any blame from himself.

 

Looking for the Chimera

 

 

After months of trying to track down the Chimera, Bellerophon, bumped into Polyeidos, a famous Corinthian psychic, who gave him a few tips on how to slay the fire-breathing monster.

Polyeidos told Bellerophon that he would require the help of the untamed winged horse, Pegasus, and sent him off to sleep in the temple of Athena.

Whilst Bellerophon slept, Goddess Athena appeared before him and revealed where Pegasus was to be found; at the fountain Peirene, in Ancient Corinth.

 

 

Athina had also left beside Bellerophon a golden bridle, only with the use of this may the wild and rebellious Pegasus be tamed.

Once Bellerophon awoke, without further ado, he headed for the fountain Peirene in Ancient Corinth and sure enough, there was Pegasus.

 

 

Quick as a flash and with the help of the goddess Athena’s golden bridle, he mounted his steed and they raced off to face the Chimera.

Even with the help of Pegasus it was going to be a tough battle.

 

The Slaying of the Chimera

 

 

Horse and master headed off for Lycia where the Chimera was said to dwell but upon finding and confronting the fire-breathing monster Bellerophon realized there was no way he could defeat the creature whist mounted on Pegasus.

Then the heat of the monster’s breath gave him an idea: he impaled a large block of lead upon his spear and with one quick move, pushed it down the monster’s throat.

The Chimera’s fire-breath melted the lead which blocked its air passage, suffocating it.

 

 

The triumphant home-coming Bellerophon expected didn’t happen; on returning he was confronted by a doubting Iobates who just couldn’t believe Bellerophon had achieved the impossible; killing the Chimera, plus, he was still alive.

And so, Iobate set Bellerophon a myriad of grueling tasks including battling with the Amazons and the Solymi, whom he is also said to have conquered, once again, Bellerophon comes out tops!

Iobates relented and gave Bellerophon his daughter’s hand in marriage and half his kingdom.

But what became of Pegasus, the magical winged horse, who, after all, had saved the day with the battle of the Chimera?

 

The Downfall of Bellerophon and the Reward of Pegasus

 

 

Bellerophon, who was now the man of the day, felt entitled to a place to call his own on Mount Olympus, home of all the Greek gods, and so he ordered Pegasus to head for home.

Zeus, king of Greek gods, angered by Bellerophon’s audacity, decided to teach him a lesson and sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus as he was carrying Bellerophon to Mount Olympus, causing Pegasus to throw Bellerophon from his back and to his death.

The riderless Pegasus flew on, finally reaching Mount Olympus where he remained for many years in the service of Zeus, who employed him to carry his thunderbolts, for which Zeus rewarded him with a constellation, bearing his name.

The constellation Pegasus is depicted with only the top half of the horse; nevertheless it is one of the largest constellations in the sky, seventh in size.

 

The Constellations of Pegasus and Andromeda

 

 

The Andromeda constellation, which includes the Andromeda Galaxy; the nearest fully-developed galaxy to our Milky Way, consists of sixteen stars, named by the ancient Greeks after the mythical, Ethiopian princess, Andromeda.

 

 

The constellation is roughly shaped as a sprawling figure with outstretched arms and feet pointing in the direction of the Perseus constellation next to Cassiopeia.

The figure’s “head” connects the constellation to the neighboring square of Pegasus.

 

 

The constellations Pegasus and Andromeda are viewed to their best advantage during in the month of October.

Both constellations, located in the northern hemisphere, are included in the forty eight constellations first catalogued by the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy, in the 2nd century; one named after Pegasus, the winged horse and the other, after the Ethiopian Princess Andromeda.

The Pegasus and Andromeda constellations are two of the largest constellations in the sky and also two of the largest in Ptolemy’s 150 AD famous work “The Almagest.”

The Great Square of Pegasus, representing the main body of the horse, is formed by three bright stars, which in ancient times were considered to belong to both the Pegasus and Andromeda constellations and marked both the navel of the horse and the top of Andromeda’s head.

 

The Story Behind the Logo

 

 

Greek mythology inspired many prestigious companies to choose unique logos which would boost their sales in the best possible way; Mobil is just one of them.

Mobil is a major American oil company that merged with Exxon in 1999 to form a parent company called ExxonMobil.

Mobil was previously one of the Seven Sisters which controlled the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s until the 1970s.

‘The Seven Sisters’ was a common term for the seven oil companies of the ‘Consortium for Iran’ cartel, which referred to the seven Pleiades sisters of Greek mythology, fathered by the titan Atlas.

After the break-up of Standard Oil in 1911, the Standard Oil Company of New York was founded, along with 33 other successor companies.

 In 1920 the company registered the name “Mobiloil” as a trademark and since its amalgamation with Magnolia Petroleum Company in the 1930s the Mobil logo has been the winged horse of Greek mythology, Pegasus.

By 1931, with the growth of the car industry, Mobil Vacuum Pump Oil products also expanded and now include Pegasus Spirits and Mobilgas, simply known as Mobil.

Today Mobil is still a major brand name and Pegasus is still a major Greek Myth!