Pegasus and his brother Chrysoar, whos parents were Poseidon and Medusa, were born when Perseus had beheaded Medusa. Pegasus, a snow white flying horse, and his brother the Chrysoar, the red flying horse (some legends say he was a warrior instead), sprang from her blood and emerged from her neck. Pegasus flew up to join the Gods and was caught by the Goddess Athena. Athena tamed the horse with a golden bridle where he then lived on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, where the nine Muses lived.
On the advice of a seer, Bellerophon spent a night in the temple of the goddess Athena. As he slept, the goddess appeared to him with a golden bridle and told him that it would enable him to capture Pegasus. When Bellerophon awoke, he found the golden bridle beside him, and with it he easily captured and tamed the winged horse. Bellerophon needed Pegasus to help him kill the Chimaera, the horrible monster, to rescue the Princess Andromeda. Together they also beat the warlike Solimus and finally the Amazons.
Later, Bellerophon thought after all this he should live amongst the Gods and tried to fly up to Olympus on Pegasus' back, despite the obvious objections of Pegasus. He would have made it had not Zeus sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, causing him to throw Bellerophon off his back. Bellerophon was crippled forever, but Pegasus was used by Zeus himself to carry thunderbolts.
Another story of his legend is about the Muses holding a contest of song. The music charmed the streams and made Mount Helicon grow toward the heavens. The god Poseidon ordered Pegasus to make it stop growing by striking it with his hoof. Pegasus did and the fountain Hippocrene sprang forth. Its waters inspired people to write poetry. Two other fountains of inspiration, Aganippe and Pirene were also made by the hoof of Pegasus. Pegasus went on to become the occasional mount of the goddess Eos (Aurora) on her mission to bring forth the Dawn. At other times he was ridden by Apollo (Phoebus) as he brought the sun across the sky. Pegasus, when not in attendance with the Muses or bearing Zeus' thunderbolts in a storm, resides in the Helios' Sun-stables with other winged horses. Pegasus had a wife, Euippe (or Ocyrrhoe), and two children, Celeris and Melanippe.
For his precious help, Pegasus was immortalized in the night sky by Zeus in the constellation bearing his name.
