Pegasus means "spring forth" or "of the springs." Pegasus is an immortal
flying horse with close ties to fresh water springs. Only in later myths is he described as having wings. Today, his wings are
most often white but that may be a very recent color change. There are quite a
few divine horses running around the Greek sky. They are usually descended from
the Gods of the four winds or the spirits of storm winds. Pegasus’s parents, however, are most often Medusa and Poseidon. He "sprang" from Medusa’s neck when she was
killed. In older stories, Pegasus carried thunder and lightening for Zeus. The
constellation Pegasus rises in the spring, bringing warm weather and
rainstorms. Eos the Goddess of dawn also got along well with Pegasus. Each
morning they traveled across the sky, Eos’s torch lighting the sky before the
sun rose.
In the more adventure oriented stories, Athena Chalinitis, "the horse
bridler," tames Pegasus with a golden bridle and gives him to the hero
Bellerophon or she tells him how to tame the horse. Bellerophon rides Pegasus
into battle with the Chimaera. Some people say this is a myth about the spring
storms defeating the winter season. Unfortunately, Bellerophon doesn’t stop at
using a winged horse to win battles and tries to fly to the Gods’ home. Pegasus
throws him to the ground, usually at the request of the Gods and returns to flying
wild.
Pegasus also appears in the contest of the 7 Muses of Pieria and the 9
Muses of the Olympians at Mount Helicon. The mountain rose up into the sky during the singing contest and Poseidon sent Pegasus to stamp the mountain back to the ground. The four springs of the Hippocrene
fountain "horse spring," appeared where Pegasus’s hooves struck the mountain. The Muses promptly added this fountain to their collection of sacred springs of inspiration. Pegasus could almost be tracked by the springs his hooves created across the land (maybe he got thirsty easy) and most of these springs
ended up being linked to the Muses, prophecy and ritual cleansings. Pegasides
is a term for nymphs of springs and fresh water streams and is one of the many group names for the Muses. All of this may be why in later
stories, Athena again tames Pegasus and this time gives him to the Muses.
The constellation called Pegasus has a few more stories linked to it. Chiron the healing
Centaur had a daughter who had the gift of prophecy but she told too many
secrets and was transformed into a mare (usually black) by Zeus. Artemis
however stepped in and placed her in the sky as the constellation Pegasus. The
Centaur’s daughter has a confusing list of names. Euippe or Hippe, "the good
mare," and Ocyrhoe "the swiftly flowing" seem to be the most common but she is
also called Melanippe "the black mare" and even Antiope. Intriguingly, the 7
Muses of Pieria are sometimes said to be the daughters of a nymph name Euippe or
Antiope. One final horse and Muse related name to end with; Aganippe "the gentle horse who overwhelms" is the title of Demeter as a black horse with
wings. Aganippe is also the name of a nymph who raised the Olympian Muses and gave them her spring which was known for inspiration.
Pegasus soars through the black sky filled with stars, leaps in the dark clouds filled with rain and brings inspiration and prophecies from
the dark earthy source of sweet spring waters.
