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Pegasus (, ''Pēgasos''; Latin: ''Pegasus'') is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa.〔Medusa, in her archaic centaur-like form. She appears in the incised relief on a mid-7th century BCE vase from Boeotia at the Louvre (CA795), illustrated in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, ''Greece and the Hellenistic World'' (Oxford University Press) 1988, fig p 87.〕 He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing when his mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets write about his ascent to heaven after his birth and his obeisance to Zeus, king of the gods, who instructed him to bring lightning and thunder from Olympus. Friend of the Muses, Pegasus is the creator of Hippocrene, the fountain on Mt. Helicon. He was captured by the Greek hero Bellerophon near the fountain Peirene with the help of Athena and Poseidon. Pegasus allows the hero to ride him to defeat a monster, the Chimera, before realizing many other exploits. His rider, however, falls off his back trying to reach Mount Olympus. Zeus transformed him into the constellation Pegasus and placed him up in the sky. Hypotheses have been proposed regarding its relationship with the Muses, the gods Athena, Poseidon, Zeus, Apollo, and the hero Perseus. The symbolism of Pegasus varies with time. Symbol of wisdom and especially of fame from the Middle Ages until the Renaissance, he became one symbol of the poetry and the creator of sources in which the poets come to draw inspiration, particularly in the 19th century. Pegasus is the subject of a very rich iconography, especially through the ancient Greek pottery and paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance. ==Etymology== The poet Hesiod presents a folk etymology of the name ''Pegasus'' as derived from πηγή ''pēgē'' "spring, well": "the ''pegai'' of Okeanos, where he was born."〔Noted by Karl Kerényi, ''The Heroes of the Greeks'', 1959:80: "In the name Pegasos itself the connection with a spring, ''pege'', is expressed."〕 A proposed etymology of the name is Luwian ''pihassas'', meaning "lightning", and ''Pihassassi'', a local Luwian-Hittite name in southern Cilicia of a weather god represented with thunder and lightning. The proponents of this etymology adduce Pegasus' role, reported as early as Hesiod, as bringer of thunderbolts to Zeus. It was first suggested in 1952 and remains widely accepted,〔The connection of ''Pegasus'' with ''Pihassas'' was suggested by H.T. Bossert, "Die phönikisch-hethitischen Bilinguen vom Karatepe", ''Jahrbuch für kleinasiatische Forschung'', 2 1952/53:333, P. Frei, "Die Bellerophontessaga und das Alte Testament", in B. Janowski, K. Koch and G. Wilhelm, eds., ''Religionsgeschichtliche Beziehungen zwischen Kleinasien, Nordsyrien und der Alte Testament'', 1993:48f, and Hutter, "Der luwische Wettergott ''pihašsašsi'' under der griechischen Pegasos", in Chr. Zinko, ed. ''Studia Onomastica et Indogermanica...'' 1995:79–98. Commentary was provided by R. S. P. Beekes in his ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 1183.〕 but Robin Lane Fox (2009) has criticized it as implausible.〔"a storm god is not the origin of a horse. However, he had a like-sounding name, and Greek visitors to Cilicia may have connected their existing Pegasus with Zeus's lightning after hearing about this 'Pihassassi' and his functions and assuming, wrongly, he was their own Pegasus in a foreign land." Robin Lane Fox, ''Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer'', Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2009, ISBN 9780307271518, pp. 207ff.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「pegasus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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