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The white, winged horse Pegasus was the offspring of Poseidon and the Gorgon , Medusa,
springing from the latter's neck when she was killed by
Perseus.
He immediately flew to Mount Helicon and struck the ground with his hoof.
The resulting stream which flowed from the spot he had pawed became sacred to the Muses.
Some time later Pegasus was to help Perseus to rescue
Andromeda from the dreadful sea monster
Cetus.
Bellerophon, the grandson of Sisyphus (a selfish man punished by
the Gods for his arrogance by being forced to continually push an enormous boulder
to the top of a hill, only for it to roll back down just as the goal seemed within reach)
was also greatly aided by Pegasus when undertaking several dangerous missions,
including his fight against the Chimaera, the three-headed monstrous female.
However, the success of this and other missions turned Bellerophon's head and he,
too, became arrogant. So much so, that although a mere mortal, he forced Pegasus
to fly him to Mount Olympus, the home of the Gods. Zeus , greatly annoyed at
Bellerophon's presumption that he was worthy to be in such august company,
sent an insect to bite Pegasus on his flank, causing him to rear up and throw
Bellerophon to the ground. He was then dispatched back to earth, and ended his
days a sad and lonely figure, blind and lame. For Pegasus, however,
there was the reward of a place in the stables on Mount Olympus, and the
opportunity to carry around Zeus's thunderbolts
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