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Page name: Pegasus [Logged in view] [RSS]

2009-07-25 20:54:40

Last author: windowframe
Owner: ArchangelGabriel

# of watchers: 11

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Pegasus

Pegasus by Ciorstag

      Pegasus (from the Greek Pégasos: Πήγασος), the famed winged horse of Greek myth was, according to lore, created at the death of Medusa. How exactly Pegasus was created varies, as does the idea that Poseidon; the Greek god of the sea, and of horses, is his father. In some myths Pegasus springs from Medusa’s neck after her head has been severed by the hero Perseus. In others Pegasus is created by the merging of Medusa’s blood with sea foam, it seems unclear however whether this would make Poseidon or Oceanus his father. In yet other tales Pegasus is created when Medusa’s blood mixes with the earth – this version of the myth goes against the idea of Oceanus or Poseidon's paternity. The account given in Hesiod's Theogony is that Pegasus sprang from Medusa's neck along with Chrysaor, and that he was so named because he was born beside the waters of Oceanus - the river which encircled the world.

      Pegasus was, for a while, the steed of the Greek hero Bellerophon, aiding him in killing the Chimera and defeating the Solymians and the Amazons. However, Bellerophon grew arrogant and attempted to ride Pegasus to Mount Olympus. For his impiety, Zeus sent a gadfly to bite Pegasus, causing him to rear and throw Bellerophon off. In some myths, after this incident, Pegasus became the carrier of Zeus’ thunderbolts.

      Pegasus is often associated with the nine Greek muses, sources of inspiration for the Greek world. He created the spring Hippocrene, on Mt Helicon – home of the muses - by striking the rock with his hooves to command the mountain to return to its normal size on the orders of Poseidon, after Mt Helicon swelled with pleasure during the singing contest between the muses and the Pierides.

      The presence of the ‘sus/sos’ in his name suggests a pre-Greek origin, allowing Pegasus to be dated back to around the middle of the Bronze Age.

      Since then, 'Pegasus' has come to mean for many people, any winged horse, sometimes referred to as pegasi (plural), pegasuses (pl.), or pegas (single, family, or herd). However, some people dispute these names and argue that 'Pegasus' refers specifically to the winged horse of Greek mythology, and that the racial name is 'pterippi'.

      As with most legendary characters from Greek mythology, Pegasus eventually became a constellation, this constellation makes up one of our 88 modern constellations, belonging to the northern hemisphere and visible in Autumn. It is often viewed in an upside down position, giving it the appearance of emerging from the ocean.

      Today Pegasi are more closely associated with the fantasy genre and are one of the more popular and widely known mythical creatures. They can often be found in both fantasy fiction and art. Dungeons & Dragons (http://www.wizards.com/dnd) defines the creature as a magical (woodland) beast.

      References:
   Hesiod, 1988. Theogony and Works and Days. New York: Oxford University Press
   Pierre Grimal, Dictionary of Clasical Mythology
   Robert Graves, The Greek Myths I & II
   M. Makins et al, Collins English Dictionary
   Dungeons & Dragons, http://www.wizards.com/dnd/

More information:

	Pegasus Anatomy
	Pegasus in Role-playing Games
	Pegasus in Movies
	Pegasus Related Creatures
	Pegasus Poetry
	Pegasus Elftown Art
	Artsie's Pegasus - The Great Winged One - a personal work by [Artsieladie].

<img500*0:http://elftown.eu/stuff/pegasus%20divider2.png>

Pegasus Web Media:

      http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/pegasus.html :::
      Encyclopedia Mythica article on Pegasus (by Lindemans, M. F. - 1997, updated 2001)

      http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/pegasus.htm :::
      Unknown Author - Poems about Pegasus (by www.linsdomain.com, u/k date)

      http://www.ufrsd.net/staffwww/stefanl/myths/pegasus.htm :::
      Unknown Author - Information about the constellation of Pegasus, from both Greek and Indian histories (by www.ufrsd.net, u/k date)

      http://www.theoi.com/Ther/HipposPegasos.html :::
      Excellent resource for Greek mythological references to Pegasus, as well as cool pictures and artifacts depicting 'Pegasos'. Very informative and organized! (by Atsma, A., & Theoi Project - www.theoi.com, 2000-06)

      <URL:http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570460/Pegasus_(mythology).html> :::
      Encarta.MSN.com's Definition and summary of Pegasus (by Encarta, & Microsoft Corp., 1997-2006)

      http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_bullfinch_16.htm :::
      Monsters - Giants, Sphinx, Pegasus and Chimera (Chimaera), Centaurs, Griffin, and Pygmies - From Bulfinch's Mythology, Chapter 16 (by Bullfinch, T., 1913, & AncientHistory.About.com, 2007)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus :::
      Wikipedia's Pegasus, a common reference and detailed summary of Pegasus in past and modern media (by Wikipedia.org - updated 2007)

      http://www.moonmoth.demon.co.uk/pegasos_coins.html :::
      Pegasus on ancient coins. Very cool pictures of real ancient coins! (by Walsh, B., u/k date)

      Pegasus was born to Poseidon by Medusa, one of the three Gorgon Sisters. See :::
      http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Mythology_and_Folklore/Mythology/Greek/Gorgons
      http://www.loggia.com/myth/gallerymedusa.html
      http://www.loggia.com/myth/medusa.html

      Medusa's Gorgon sisters, Stheno and Euryale :::
      http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html

      Pages on flying creatures and exactly how big and strong those wings have to be :::
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_%28wing%29
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_loading

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_anatomy
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_flight
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_skeleton
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_and_gliding_animals
      (Wikipedia.org, many updates, 2007)

      http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/274/5290/1164 :::
      A ScienceMag.org article on the early adaptation of flying animals (by Hou, L., Martin, L. D., ScienceMag.org, et al, Science 15 November 1996: Vol. 274. no. 5290, pp. 1164 - 1167)

<img500*0:http://elftown.eu/stuff/pegasus%20divider1.png>

Creature_List / The Creature List

Related:
      Elftown Creature Marathon > ECM Pegasus
      MOML, the Monsters of Myth and Legend > N--Q
      APA Formatting & Copyright and Intellectual Property

2006-11-07 [Hedda]: On ECM pegasus text, we're working on more material for this page.

2006-12-12 [Artsieladie]: There's more than one myth surrounding the origin of the Pegasus. There's one that states that the Pegasus grew from the blood that seeped into the ground from Medusa, the snake-haired Gorgon's head. The goddess, Minerva tamed him and gave him to the Muses of Mt. Helicon. The Muses held a song contest and the music was so great and powerful, Mount Helicon started to grow toward heaven. The god, Poseidon, unhappy about this, asked Pegasus to strike the mountain with his hoof to cease the growing of the mountain. Pegasus struck it with his hoof and the Hippocrene fountain began to flow. From that day forward, its waters have inspired many poets. :P
*point of interest* > The Pegasus image has been found on Greek coins dating back to around 360 B.C.. :) Maybe...I should post this on another (different) page? :P

2006-12-12 [xido]: I love all of the pegasus pictures! And the info here is so much more than when it began! I must faint in overwhelming joy!

*faints* <img:44166_1164144892.gif>

All this from our little marathon on ECM Pegasus... <img:44166_1164145171.gif>
-will

2006-12-12 [Hedda]: Thanks, [iippo]! <img:stuff/dand-gif.gif>

2006-12-13 [xido]: I like the new View Diff feature. That outlines it pretty nicely.... I must admit I have not been able to really play with the format features of the site since all these recent upgrades....

And I love not having a limit to my comments' length. <img:44166_1164218094.gif>

Creature List Format

2006-12-23 [Hedda]: The View Diff feature is years old... <img:stuff/sutN.gif>

Comments about my edit:
1) Do not put unrelated images or text on top! That's bad for search engines who become confused about what the page is about, and of course it's the same for real people. The page must start with "pegasus", the image and the short description. Bonus-stuff else where or later!

2) I gave [Zab] credit via a wikimg-link. Works fine, I think. Maybe I should have linked to another page?

3) "wikis" was used wrong. A "wiki" is a set of wiki-pages. That is: Elftown only have one wiki. And people reading here are not that interested in if the links go to wiki-pages or not, just what kind of information the links go to.

2006-12-23 [Hedda]: Another note: This page should be as good as possible all the time, so there should be an image on top, even if we'll change it when the image-competition if over.

2006-12-23 [xido]: Okay. 'Tis fine with me. You know it better than I do. <img:stuff/cheshmak.gif>

"The View Diff feature is years old..." <img:stuff/mood14-gif.gif> Color me naive. <img:stuff/zabuN-gif.gif>
-will

2007-01-11 [Hedda]: I changed [Zab]'s image to [Ciorstag]'s now as [Ciorstag] is in the lead in <poll:73870>. But the image has the same name, so you might have to reload the image.

2007-01-14 [Teufelsweib]: can I change the mainstreet poll now, since this one seems to be clear enough? :)

2007-01-14 [Hedda]: Yes.

2007-01-27 [Artsieladie]: When I Googled "Pegasus", I went through 20 pages & stopped, for I didn't find anything associated to Elftown. When I Googled "Art Pegasus", this page, Pegasus, came up on the 2nd page, 7th listing from the top. :P

2007-01-28 [xido]: *ponders*

hmmmmmm....

I am having similar issues with my keyword use... But I figured it was just me doing something messed up....

2007-01-28 [Artsieladie]: I'm not a Googling person, or a net surfer by nature, but I was looking for something & decided to see how I'd fair at finding ET's Pegasus info on the net. So, I just mentioned here what I came up with. :P

2007-01-28 [windowframe]: If you try 'Pegasus creature' it comes up on the second page, second entry. 'Pegasus mythical' I gave up trying to find (I don't have as much patience as [Artsieladie]). For 'Pegasus mythical creature' ET's link is on the fourth page, near the bottom.

2007-01-28 [Artsieladie]: I wish I understood better how to bring a site up on the first page, but this may be a $94,000 question! :P

2007-01-29 [Hedda]: No, it's very simple. Just make sure it gets linked to from high ranking pages. See SEO HOWTO.

2007-02-10 [xido]: I'd like to add this banner to this page:
http://elftown.lysator.liu.se/stuff/clt3.jpg

How would I do that like it is done with the other Pegasus banner (that includes [Zab]'s Pegasus Image entry)? I see you posted a certain format for it... I am not sure how that works, though.... Is that like templating a wikipage?

:S
-will

2007-02-10 [Hedda]: Like this?

2007-02-14 [xido]: Exactly. ;)

2007-02-17 [windowframe]: Silviefaff Is what I suggest changing the information on this page to...

2007-02-22 [xido]: I really like that one, Silvie. It's a bit longer than the one that's up now, but it is complete and concise. I will add it.

I also added keywords (!!! oops), and a small portion about Pegasus in D&D terms. ;)
-will

2007-02-22 [xido]: Pegasus on Elftown: Medallions <poll:73870>

Testing... Added.... Doesn't look as pretty as I wanted it.
Better.
Done. Now Google search for 'Pegasus'. ;D

2007-02-22 [windowframe]: Still not on any of the first ten pages.

2007-02-22 [Hedda]: I moved (and corrected) the extra info in the beginning to another page, as it belongs there and not on top of a page trying to describe "Pegasus".

2007-02-25 [xido]: If you Google search within Elftown, it is the first on the page.

I see what you mean, Hedda. The winner info... Where did you move it?
-will

2007-03-02 [Artsieladie]: Google search using "Pegasus pictures" - one of the link choices at bottom of Google page under "Searches related to" --->3rd page, about in the middle, it says for Elftown: Excellent resource for Greek mythological references to Pegasus, as well as cool pictures and artifacts depicting 'Pegasos'. Very informative and organized! ... Under the "Pegasus Mythology" choice, it comes up on the 4th page, closer to the bottom. A search typed in as "Pegasus Art", Elftown comes up on the FIRST page, the last listing. Kewl! ...And under search for "Pegasus Poetry", FIRST page, listed about in the middle. "Pegasus Fantasy Art", page 2, 9th listing. I think it's improving in the Google Searches. :D

2007-10-29 [windowframe]: Just deleted a duplicate word.

2007-12-15 [windowframe]: Hope no one minds me, I found a short description of the birth of Pegasus in Hesiod's Theogony, which made me wonder whether there had been some misinterpretation by other scholars between Poseidon and Oceanus.

2007-12-15 [windowframe]: May I also suggest this layout for the references/bibliogaphy:

Author, Year. Title of book. Edition (only include this if not the first edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

2007-12-15 [Hedda]: [windowframe]: You found what description?

What reference/bibliography?

2007-12-15 [iippo]: After the main text there is a list of books that people have used as reference, and it's not a very clean bibliography-list. The system Silvie's suggesting is a common and easy-to-use style of referencing (it's the Harvard System). I think it'd be good.

2007-12-15 [windowframe]: The description that I added to the text, "he account given in Hesiod's Theogony is that Pegasus sprang from Medusa's neck along with Chrysaor, and that he was so named because he was born beside the waters of Oceanus - the river which encircled the world."

2008-01-01 [Artsieladie]: Well, I must say I was delighted to see my art on the first page of a Google search (images): "Pegasus Art" & of course, linked to Elftown!!! I went on to "Pegasus Poetry", somehow left it as an images' search, & lo & behold, lookie what I discovered:
http://www.lair2000.net/Pegasus_Poetry/poetry/follow.jpg
Someone put my Pegasus within there image to go with their poem! I'm trying to contact the site about this. If they want to give me credit for my art & link it back to Elftown, this is something I can live with, especially if it gives Elftown a plug. The page it's on is:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lair2000.net/Pegasus_Poetry/poetry/follow.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lair2000.net/Pegasus_Poetry/poetry/Follow_Me.html&h=475&w=550&sz=244&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=4B9k33fBPOLO4M:&tbnh=115&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPegasus%2BPoetry%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
Gee, I'm flattered & upset all at the same time.
The person could have asked permission, b/c my Pegasus pages are set for non members to comment.

2008-01-24 [Artsieladie]: Update: The owner of the site, http://www.lair2000.net/Pegasus_Roost/Pegasus_Roost.html & I are in communicado. <img:stuff/dand-gif.gif>

2008-01-30 [windowframe]: the link in web-wedia to http://www.winshop.com.au/annew/Pegasus.html appears to be broken.

2013-10-31 [jogos-de-carros]: This page remembers me about Saint Seiya - Knights of the Zodiac. Good times...

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