Pegasus, the glorious white winged horse, is an idea that originated thousands of years ago in Greek Mythology. Pegasus was the son of Poseidon, the god of earth, and Medusa, a lovely young maiden. Poseidon became infatuated with Medusa and seduced her into the temple of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Athena was infuriated by this and took out her anger on Medusa. She turned the maiden into a Gorgon, s a horrifying immortal woman with snakes for hair and whose glance will turn a person to stone. However, because Medusa had not been born a Gorgon, she was not immortal.

Had she been immortal, Pegasus never would have been brought into the world, for he was the result of her death. The story goes that King Polydetes fell in love with a woman, named Danae, who had a young son, Persues. Danae did not want to marry King Polydetes, and Persues tried to protect her from him, but had little success. Finally, the king told Perseus if he could bring back the head of a Gorgon, his mother would be free to do as she wished. The King of course, was confident that Persues would fail, becoming nothing more than a statue.

Persues agreed to the deal and sought the goddess Athena for advice. She gave him two valuable tools: the winged shoes of Hermes, and a highly polished reflective shield. Perseus used the shoes to fly to the land of the Gorgons. Then, using the shield as a mirror so that he could see Medusa without directly looking at her so he would not be turned into stone. Seeing Medusa's reflection, he lopped her head off with his sword.

One version of the myth says that, Pegasus was born from the blood which flowed from Medusa's neck, while another says that the white horse was created when Medusa's blood was mixed with the foam of the sea. Still another says he was created when the blood hit the ground and mixed with the earth. I tend to think the last one to be the most accurate considering the fact that Poseidon is the earth god, though most only know him as a sea god.

Pegasus flew away to mount Helicon where he landed and the mere touch of his hooves created springs. One of which was the famous Hippocrene (horse) spring. Mount Helicon was known as the place of the muses, and it is Pegasus's connection with this place that has made him such an inspiration to many authors.

Pegasus, though strong and mighty, could be captured and ridden. He was captured by a man named Bellerophon. Bellerophon was the grandson of Sisyphus (an arrogant man forced by the gods to constantly roll a huge rock up a hill just to have it roll back down again as a punishment.) Bellerophon was a great warrior who is best known for killing the fire breathing Chimaera that had been terrorizing the city of Lycia. He was sent on this mission by Proteus (the son in law of king Iobates). Proteus chose Bellepheron for this mission not only because he was a great warrior, but because he was afraid that his young wife was becoming infatuated with him. Proteus thought sending Bellepheron away would change her feelings and put and end to the affair before it began.

A chimera - An animal with the head of a lion, a goat, and a dragon.

Bellerophon accepted the mission and went to see Polyeidos, the wisest man in Lycia, for advice. He was told by this wise man to spend the night in the temple of Athena. That night Athena appeared to Bellerophon and advised him to captured the white winged horse whom she said could be found at the Pierian spring. Beside him the next morning, Bellerophon awoke to find that the godess had left him a magic golden bridle that would allow him to tame the wild horse.

It was only with Pegasus's help that Bellepheron was able to complete his task of killing the Chimaera. The pair were sent on many other quests after this, all in attempt to kill Bellepheron, for Proteus'young wife was still very much infatuated with him. However, all attempts failed. The pair appeared to be invincible.

At this point Iobates came to the conclusion that Bellepheron must be a favorite with the God's, and he offered him his daughter in marriage, making Bellepheron the next in line for the throne. Unfortunately, Bellepheron had become arrogant and this fine offer, wasn't enough for him. He wanted to become a God, and like a fool, tried to fly Pegasus up to mount Olympus. Zeus was not pleased with this and he sent a gadfly to bite Pegasus, which caused Bellepheron to fall to the ground. Instead of becoming a king or a God, he became crippled and blind.

Pegasus, however, was honored by Zeus. He was given a special stable and the job of carrying Zeus's thunderbolts. Pegasus later found a mate, Euippe, and had two offspring. Celeris and Melanippe. From this family came a new race of winged horses. Pegasus was not immortal, but on the last day of his life Zeus transformed him into a constellation where we can still see him today. It is said that at that moment, a single feather fell to the earth in the city of Tarus.