Pegăsus

, a winged horse sprung from the blood of Medusa, when Perseus had cut off her head. He received his name from his being born, according to Hesiod, near the sources ( πηγη ) of the ocean. As soon as born he left the earth, and flew up into heaven, or rather, according to Ovid, he fixed his residence on mount Helicon, where, by striking the earth with his foot, he instantly raised a fountain, which has been called Hippocrene. He became the favourite of the Muses; and being afterwards tamed by Neptune or Minerva, he was given to Bellerophon to conquer the Chimæra. No sooner was this fiery monster destroyed, than Pegasus threw down his rider, because he was a mortal, or rather, according to the more received opinion, because he attempted to fly to heaven. This act of temerity in Bellerophon was punished by Jupiter, who sent an insect to torment Pegasus, which occasioned the melancholy fall of his rider. Pegasus continued his flight up to heaven, and was placed among the constellations by Jupiter. Perseus, according to Ovid, was mounted on the horse Pegasus, when he destroyed the sea monster which was going to devour Andromeda. Hesiod , Theogony , li. 282 .— Horace , bk. 4 , ode 11, li. 20 .— Homer , Iliad , bk. 6 , li. 179 .— Apollo dor us , bk. 2 , chs. 3 & 4.— Lycophron , li. 17 .— Pausanias , bk. 12 , chs. 3 & 4.— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 4 , li. 785 .— Hyginus , fable 57.