PEGASOS
With the illustrator Sheila Bewley, I am working on a children’s 24-page picture-book telling the story of Pegasos and the hero Bellerephon. Each paragraph of the text below will be accompanied by a double-page illustration. For further details, contact Sheila or myself at the addresses below.
PEGASOS: the text
- Once upon a time there lived a horse called Pegasos. He was no ordinary horse, but had wings to fly with and was much wiser than most human beings. His father was the sea-god Poseidon and his mother the snake-haired Gorgon, Medusa. For the first few years of his life he roamed as he pleased in his native land of Greece, untamed and free. On mount Helikon he struck the ground with his hoof and caused a miraculous fountain to spring up, and people called it the Horse-Fountain in his honour. After this, he wandered on, sometimes galloping over the ground, sometimes flying through the air, until he came to the city of Corinth.
- Now, in Corinth lived a young prince named Bellerophon. Out hunting one day he caught sight of Pegasos grazing, and, hiding in a thicket, watched him for a while. Bellerophon longed to catch and tame the marvellous horse, but when he tried to approach, Pegasos ran away. So Bellerophon went to ask Polyeidos, the wisest man in all the city, how he could achieve his wish.
- On Polyeidos’ advice, Bellerophon went and lay down beside the altar of the goddess Athena. Soon he fell asleep, and as he slept, Athena appeared to him in a dream, holding out a golden bridle. ‘Wake up Bellerophon, and take this charm to tame your horse. Make a sacrifice to Poseidon, Tamer of Horses, in thanks, then Pegasos will be yours.’
- At once Bellerophon awoke, and there beside him was the magic bridle! Quickly he ran to the meadows outside the city where he knew Pegasos often grazed. Holding out the golden bridle he called softly to the horse. Knowing that the gods wanted him to be tamed by Bellerophon, Pegasos trotted up and obediently bent his head so that the prince could put on the bridle. Bellerophon rode back into the city and thanked Poseidon for his gift, before showing Pegasos off to his friends.
- Bellerophon was bored of
Corinth and anxious to see something of the world. So, now that he had
Pegasos, he decided to set out in search of adventure, fame and fortune.
The first place he came to was the neighbouring city of Tiryns, where Proitos was king. Proitos welcomed Bellerophon and entertained him lavishly. - Sthenoboia, the queen of
Tiryns, quickly took a fancy to the handsome young prince. One day she
came to his room, where he was having a siesta, and begged him to satisfy
her passion, trying to tempt him with the offer of her husband's kingdom.
Bellerophon was horrified at this wicked suggestion and said he would do
no such thing.
Enraged by his refusal, Sthenoboia ran to Proitos and complained that Bellerophon had tried to seduce her. Proitos believed his lying wife, but was at a loss as to how to punish Bellerophon. He wanted to kill the prince for his presumption, but Bellerophon was his guest. The gods punish anyone who harms a guest. Then he had an idea... - Proitos summoned
Bellerophon and sent him to Iobates, Sthenoboia's father, who was a king
in far away Lykia. Bellerophon was to deliver a sealed letter into Iobates’
hands. Not realising the danger he was in, Bellerophon happily rode on
Pegasos to Lykia, where he handed the fatal letter to the king. Iobates
opened it and read the message: ‘Kill the bearer of this letter!’ Now it
was Iobates’ turn to be faced with the dilemma: how could he defend his
daughter's honour without harming his guest?
Then he remembered the Chimaira, a terrible monster which was laying waste to the countryside of Lykia. It was swift-footed and strong as three beasts, with a lion's head at the front, a serpent’s head instead of a tail, and in the middle a goat’s head, breathing fire. ‘Go and kill the Chimaira, the beast that is destroying my land!’ ordered Iobates. He thought that Bellerophon would surely die in the attempt. - So Bellerophon, eager to prove his courage, mounted Pegasos and rode out to confront the Chimaira. A fierce combat ensued. Bellerophon urged Pegasos up into the air over the monster, dodging blasts of fire and the darting, poisonous snake's head. Then, with a strong thrust of his spear, Bellerophon pierced the Chimaira through. Bellowing with pain, the creature rolled over and died.
- When Bellerophon returned
victorious, Iobates forgot his former anger. In return for his bravery,
Iobates gave the prince his daughter Philinoë's hand in marriage and made
him heir to the throne.
The wedding was celebrated in style, with a procession, dancing in the streets and a grand banquet for the whole city. The people of Lykia showed their gratitude to Bellerophon for freeing them from the Chimaira by giving him a fine palace and a great estate of the richest farming land. - You might think that
Bellerophon would now live happily ever after. But before long he grew
tired of a life of ease and luxury; he wanted more adventure. ‘I know,’ he
thought, ‘I shall fly to heaven to see these gods everyone thinks so much
of!’ Pegasos was unwilling, but he had to obey his master.
Zeus, the king of the gods, looked down and saw Bellerophon approaching. ‘Who is this arrogant mortal? He has been given everything, but now he wants to make himself equal to the gods. This is too much!’ So Zeus sent a gadfly to sting the horse. Pegasos reared in surprise, and Bellerophon was thrown off. He fell down and down and down... - Because he wanted too much,
Bellerophon ended up with nothing. No longer favoured by the gods, he
wandered from place to place for the rest of his life, crippled by his
fall and too ashamed to return home.
But Pegasos flew on to heaven. The gods welcomed him, recognising one of their own, and Zeus entrusted him with the special task of drawing his chariot full of thunderbolts. - As far as I know, Pegasos still carries Zeus' thunderbolts to this day. If you look up at the night sky you can see him in the stars.
Sheila Bewley
Emma J. Stafford
Synod Mill House,
e.j.stafford@leeds.ac.uk
Cross Inn,
Llandysul,
Ceredigion.