Pegasus

• 1. Blood From The Gorgon

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  The neck of Medusa bled into the earth. From that blood rose a white stallion with wings. He was Pegasus, born alongside his brother Chrysaor at the springs of Oceanus. Perseus had just cut off the Gorgon's head when this miracle occurred. Some versions say the brothers sprang directly from the severed neck. Others claim they formed from the mingling of blood and sea foam. Poseidon fathered them as the horse-god while Medusa lay dead on the ground. This birthplace marked the edge of the inhabited world in ancient Greek thought.

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• 2. Bridle At The Spring

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  A golden bridle appeared in the dream of Bellerophon. The hero slept inside the temple of Athena to seek guidance. In the night, the goddess visited him and placed the bridle in his hand. Morning brought him to the Pierian spring where Pegasus drank peacefully. The winged horse allowed the man to capture him without resistance. They rode together to defeat the Chimera monster near Mount Helicon. Later, Bellerophon fell from the back of the flying steed while trying to reach Olympus. Both figures were said to have died by the hands of Zeus for their hubris.

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• 3. Thunderbolts And Stars

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  Zeus called Pegasus to Olympus to serve as a divine courier. The white stallion carried thunderbolts between the gods and the earth. He worked alongside attendants named Astrape and Bronte who handled lightning and thunder. Years of faithful service earned him a place among the stars. On the day of his transformation into a constellation, a single feather fell to Earth. It landed near the city of Tarsus in modern Turkey. Aratus recorded this event in his Phaenomena text over two thousand years ago.

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• 4. Pottery And Bronze Coins

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  Greek potters painted Pegasus on black-figure kylixes dating to 575 BC. The Getty Museum holds one such vessel attributed to the Boreads Painter. Roman minting houses cast bronze currency featuring the winged horse with an eagle. Eugene S. McCartney analyzed these aes signatum coins in 1924. He noted how the imagery linked Pegasus to storm symbolism and divine power. British heraldry later adopted the creature as a supporter or crest. The Inner Temple displays a rampant pegasus on its official arms today.

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• 5. Maroon Berets And Bridges

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  British parachute troops adopted the silhouette of Bellerophon riding Pegasus in 1941. Major Edward Seago designed the insignia in May 1942 for the new airborne division. The emblem featured light blue figures against a maroon background. General Frederick Browning commanded the unit that wore these colors. During the Normandy invasion on the night of the 5th of June 1944, soldiers captured a bridge over the Caen Canal. They held it at all costs ahead of the seaborne assault. That structure became known forever as Pegasus Bridge.

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• 6. Logos And Satellites

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  Ecuador launched a weather satellite named Pegaso on the 26th of April 2013. Russian space debris damaged the craft shortly after deployment. TriStar Pictures uses a winged horse in their corporate logo. Mobil Oil has displayed Pegasus since affiliating with Magnolia Petroleum Company in the 1930s. A low-cost airline headquartered in Istanbul bears the name Pegasus Airlines. Benvenuto Cellini incorporated the image into a coin made in 1537 to honor Cardinal Pietro Bembo. The Tuscan flag still features the winged horse today.

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