Harpies In Fictional Literature
Perhaps the best example of traditional, yet extremely bastardised perspective of harpies comes from Dante’s the Divine Comedy, in Canto XIII. Harpies appear in the Inner Circle, –three sub-levels in the Seventh Circle of Hell. They are the residents of the infernal wood, and where the trees are frozen suicides. The harpies tear at them with their claws, and will suffer until resurrection on Judgement Day, according to Dante, at least.
The harpies also have a more traditional role in Philip Pullman’s famous trilogy, “His Dark Materials”. In the novel “The Amber Spyglass”, harpies are guardians of the Underworld, and act as psychopomps to the spirits of the dead; guiding them to their paths in the afterlife. Lyra persuades the harpies to guide the tormented souls in limbo/hell to a more peaceful afterlife.
In The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop, harpies are re-created in the imagination of the author, although they are closer to their originally monstrous characters according to Greek literature, they are also portrayed as having a more Christian background, –closer to Dante’s perspective, really. In the series, harpies are the spirits of dead women, who were killed violently by their husbands. The Queen of the Harpies is Titiana, (a name which faintly rings of inspiration from the Queen of the Fairies, Titania, according to early romantic literature), and she resides in Hell, where surrounded by her loyal flock, observes as death-hounds and harpies feed on and torture the men who killed them on earth for eternity.
Like several instances from Greek mythology, harpies also appear in works by William Shakespeare. Harpies appear specifically in The Tempest, where the spirit Ariel disguises itself as a harpy to deliver a message to Prospero.
