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Pegasus: The winged horse

Pegasus is neither a god nor a mortal. He is a divine winged horse, the offspring of Medusa and Poseidon. It is one of the most notable creatures of Greek mythology with great appeal in art and literature. His birth was none of the ordinary like with many other divine creatures. It is said that he was born at a single birthing when Perseus decapitated his mother Medusa.

The most notable myth about Pegasus is the one of Bellerophon. When Bellerophon sleeked to kill Chimera the Lycian seer Polyeidos told Bellerophon that he would need Pegasus to accomplish his end. Bellerophon approached Pegasus as he was drinking water from the Pierian Spring and tamed him. Bellerophon then rode Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but he was greedy. Upon his success he tried to ride the Pegasus to the top of Mount Olympus to glimpse the Olympian Gods. Zeus could let no man step foot on the heavens, and so sent a fly to sting Pegasus causing Bellerophon to fall.

According to the myth when Pegasus hurt his hoof on the Mountain Helicon a spring burst on the spot named the Hippocrene (horse spring). He was also Zeus’s most faithful horse carrying his thunderbolts to Olympus. Zeus in return for his service transformed him into a constellation bearing his name.


More Myths
Cassandra: The prophet of bad tidings

Cassandra, whose name became a synonym of prophet of bad tidings, was the fourth and most beautiful daughter of Priam, the king of Troy.

 


Echo and Narcissus: A tale of love, lust and desperation

Echo drama begins later when she falls in love with Narcissus, the handsome but vain son of the Nymph Liriope of Thespia. Echo would follow him everywhere longing to address him but would be unable to speak.


Eros and Psyche: Their separation led to the first love strike

Psyche, whose name means soul in Greek was neither a goddess nor a divine creature of mythology. She was just a woman, but an extraordinary woman.


Harmonia's necklace: The goddess of harmony and unity

Harmonia in Greek mythology is the goddess of harmony and unity, the exact opposite of Eris. She is the patron goddess of the love that unites all people, the embodiment of order and civic unity.


Icarus: The sky was not meant for men

Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the most talented Athenian craftsman of his time.


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Zagori: Villages hidden behind mountains

Zagori is an area of great natural beauty and unique architecture in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus in Northwestern Greece. The area is of about 1.000 square kilometers and contains 46 villages. Zagoria villages is called by Greeks “Zagorochoria” meaning the villages behind the mountain.

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In 1989, Professor of Byzantine Studies, Helen Ahrweiler is appointed Chairman of the Cultural Centre Pompidou in Paris




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