Pegasus: The story

Mythologically ,Pegasus was the son of Neptune, and the Gorgon Medusa (Algol), sprung by his father's command from the blood of the Medusa's head, which dropped into the sea after her head had been severed by Perseus, and the foam of the sea. He was a horse because Poseidon had been in the shape of a horse at the time of the seduction. When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, Pegasus, whose name means the 'Springs of Ocean', was born from the blood which fell into the sea. Pegasus was raised by the Muses and his hoof marks caused their fountain of inspiration to start flowing. Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and Universal Love (also an aspect of Aphrodite) showed the most interest in his rearing. Prophesying of his future heroic deeds and eventual celestial honor, she grieved the most when Bellerophon, at Athena's beckoning, came to take Pegasus away from Mt. Helicon.

Pegasus was a jolly and kind horse, he was always seen as a lighthearted creature, a sort of emissary between Earth and Olympus. He loved to gambol around, sometimes in the heavenly fields, sometimes on the earthly plains, and sometimes skimming over the waters from which he had been born . During a singing contest between the Pierises and the Muses, Mount Helicon swelled in pleasure. On Poseidon's order Pegasus struck the mountain with his hoof to instruct it to return to its normal size. Helicon obeyed, but at the spot where Pegasus struck it, there gushed a spring; the Hippocrene or Horse Spring. It was alleged to have magic power in its waters, if one were to drink water from this spring, one would be gifted with the art of poetry .

He was caught by Bellerophon at the waters of his fountain, and ridden by him when he slew the Chimaera, a fabulous monster with a Lion's head, a goat's body and a dragon's tail (hence the name in English for an illusory fancy, a wild incongruous scheme). By this time classical legend had given him wings, and Bellerophon sought by their aid to ascend to heaven but Jupiter, incensed by his boldness, caused an insect to sting the steed, which threw his rider. Bellerophon ignominiously plunged headlong to Earth, where he landed with a terrific crash which blinded him for life. Thereafter, Bellerophon wandered in misery, alone and fleeing the haunts of men. A warning for the presumptuous! Pegasus then rose alone to his permanent place among the stars, becoming the "Thundering Horse of Jove ",that carried the divine lightning. Urania (his nurse), was enraptured by Pegasus' triumphant arrival to Mt. Olympus.

The Greeks called the constellation simply Hyppos (Horse), or Divine Horse, and Eratosthenes distinctly asserted that it was without wings, and until after middle classical times it generally was so drawn, although loose plumes at the shoulders occasionally were added. Ptolemy mentioned the wings as well recognized in his day; and this has continued till ours, for the sky figure is now known as the Winged Horse, - a recurrence to Etruscan, Euphratean, and Hittite ideas, for the wings are clearly represented on a horse's figure on tablets, vases, etc of those countries, where this constellation may have been known in pre classical times. .

It is said to have been placed in the heavens by the early Aryans to represent Asva, the Sun. The figure was considered incomplete, a possible reason for this being given under Aries. Thus it was characterized as, "cut in two," or as if partly hidden in the clouds; the Half-visible Libyan Horse. Translated from Greece by the Romans, it was Equus and elsewhere it was Cornipes, Horn-footed; Sonipes, Noisy-footed.

Jewish legends made it the mighty Nimrod's Horse; "are swifter than eagles". Pegasus appears on coins of Corinth from 500 to 430 BCE, and from 350 to 338 BCE, and 200 years thereafter,- complete and with wings; as well as on coins of Carthage, with the asterisk of the sun, or with the winged disc, and the hooded snakes over its back. It is also shown on a coin of Narbonne as a sectional winged figure, and as a winged horse on a Euphratean gem, with a bull's head, a crescent moon, and three stars in the field. A coin of Panormus, the modern Palermo, has the Horse's head. The Bridled Horse, used for the figurehead on a ship, which would account for the constellation being shown with only the head and forequarters; others have considered it of Egyptian origin, from Pag, "to cease," and Sus, "a vessel", thus symbolizing the cessation of navigation at the change of the Nile flow. From this, Pegasus seems to have been regarded, in those countries at least, as the sky emblem of a ship. In the old work the Des frudion of Troye, we read of "a ship built by Perseus, and named Pegasus, which was likened to a flying horse".
The stars of Pegasus

The great square is formed by alpha Pegasi, (or Markab, "the Saddle"), beta Pegasi, (or Scheat or Menkhib, "the Horse's Shoulder"), gamma Pegasi, (or Algenib, "the Wing" or "the Side") and alpha Andromedae, (Alpheratz the Princess's Head or Sirrah, from Al Surrat al Faras, "Navel of the Horse" which is sometimes called Delta Pegasi) form the body of the horse. The Greeks identified these four stars in Pegasus (called the Square of Pegasus) as the gate to paradise for souls who escaped the necessity of reincarnation. The nose lies in epsilon Pegasi, or Enif. Eta Pegasi, or Matar, is the knee of the horse. Sirrah, also called Alpheratz, along with being the naval of Pegasus, is actually the first star of Andromeda, the princess' head, however, it is believed that it takes its astrological influences from Pegasus.

Pegasus lies north of the Urn of Aquarius and the easternmost Fish (Pisces), the stars of the Great Square enclosing the body of the Horse. The figure is usually shown as half a horse, upside down, it is believed that the horse is just rising from the ocean, the other half still submerged.


Text obtained from: http://prosites-magicstables.homestead.com/ThePegasusMyth.html