Back to the aftermath of Pegasus’s birth. Parentless, he was raised by the Muses at Mount Helicon, where he was taken by goddess Athena. In all of his excitement for being given to those women, Pegasus was striking the side of the mountain with his hooves and his marks caused springs to turn into flowing fountains of inspiration.
Those springs became sacred to the Muses who loved and respected the “flying horse”. But to one of them – Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and Universal Love, Pegasus was particularly important. She saw a heroic future for Pegasus as well as some, possible celestial honor waiting for him. Urania suffered a lot when Bellerophontes, a mythical hero, took Pegasus away.
Hesiod’s story about the Bellerophontes’s “hijack” of Pegasus confirmed that whenever Pegasus struck his hoof a fountain of inspiration burst immediately. One of those sacred springs was the Hippocrene (meaning “horse spring”) on Mt Helicon.
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