The Pegasus is a legendary creature whose origins lie in Greek mythology [1]. In the 1981 sword-and-sorcery epic Clash of the Titans, the last remaining Pegasus played a major role in Perseus's quest to save his doomed love. It was animated by stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen.
Description[]
The Pegasus is portrayed as a winged horse, noble of bearing and usually purest white in colour.
Clash of the Titans[]
In Clash of the Titans, the Pegasus depicted was the last of its kind, the others of its sacred herd having been slaughtered by the malicious demigod Calibos for sport- an act for which he would dearly pay.
When Perseus embarked on his quest to save the Princess Andromeda from Calibos, the young hero tracked down the Pegasus and tamed the wild beast, using its ability of flight to track down his foe and defeat him in single combat, thereby earning the hand of the princess in marriage.
However, during the ceremony Thetis, Calibos's vengeful goddess mother, decreed that in payment for transgressions against her and her son Andromeda must be sacrificed to the mighty Kraken, last of the Titans. The Pegasus was instrumental in aiding Perseus in rescuing his bride-to-be, transporting the young hero to the site of the ritual, where Perseus used the decapitated head of the monstrous Medusa to turn the Kraken to stone and save Andromeda.
In Greek Mythology[]
In stories told in Ancient Greece, as with most characters from the myths of antiquity, the Pegasus has several tales associated with it, the majority of which disagree on elements of the story, and a few which outright contradict each other. The story which most closely resembles that told in Clash of the Titans is, predictably, that of Perseus, in which the demigod son of Zeus births the Pegasus from the spilled blood of the recently-slain Medusa. In this version, it is Athena who tames the Pegasus before gifting it to Perseus for his quest to save Andromeda [1].
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