Advanced Intermediate Beginner Home English Spanish

Pegasus



Mural of the winged horse Pegasus, Turkey.
Click on image for full size (76K JPEG)
Image courtesy of Corel corporation.
Pegasus was a winged horse that came out of Medusa when she was killed by Perseus. The Gorgon Medusa was once a beautiful Lybian princess. Because she was seduced by the sea god Poseidon in a temple, Athena transformed her into a monster.

After his birth, Pegasus lived on the Mount Helicon. One day, an ancient Greek hero whose name was Bellerophon believed that he could fly with Pegasus to Olympus, where the gods lived. To prevent him from doing that, Zeus sent a horsefly to bite Pegasus. Bellerophon fell down to Earth.

Pegasus continued to fly alone and reached Olympus, where Zeus received him. Since then, he transports thunderbolts for Zeus, who placed his figure in the night sky.


Credits Settings Sponsorship Membership Contact us About the site Site map Help Myths People News Arts, books and film Images and multimedia Tours Life Geology Physics Space weather Space Missions Solar system Astronomy and the Universe Shop for science stuff Games Ask a scientist Journal Comets Dwarfs Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter Asteroids Mars Earth Venus Mercury Sun Teacher resources Kids Space Search Home

Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer