The Greek Harpy
Aside from their descendants, harpies appear in a few different stories in Greek mythology, as well as sometimes in Roman mythology, –though transformed somewhat by more romantic minds. But since we’re focusing on Greek mythology, –the Romans don’t count! In Greek mythology also, however, sometimes the number of harpies isn’t quite accurate, because of their family. Sometimes there is only one harpy. At other times, there are two; originally they were two sisters with golden hair, seductive though still malignant. And then the number settled at three, at which point also followed a more detailed family tree.
The most well remembered appearance of the harpies in Greek mythology is that in the story of Phineas, the king of Thrace. Phineas had the gift of second sight, and because gifted mortals were often at some odds with the gods, Phineas ended up on the wrong side of Zeus because he revealed too much with his gift. As punishment, Zeus banished him and decreed that he should always have food, but would forever be hungry. So Phineas was sent to an island which had a marvelous buffet table that was never empty. However, as soon as Phineas tried to take a bite, a harpy swooped down and stole the food from his hands. Then the rest of the remaining would be befouled, in a most unpleasant manner.
This continued until Jason, the famed Greek hero, and his entourage of Argonauts arrived. They succeeded in chasing away the harpies with the aid of the Boreads, sons of the North Wind, who were also gifted with the ability to fly. Iris, promised that the “dogs of great Zeus” returned to their “cave in Minoan Crete”. In another instance, the harpies also cause trouble to a troop of Trojan warriors, who were also cursed with extreme hunger by one of the traditional three harpy sisters, Celaeno.
