Creature Mondays and Short Story

Credit for picture

Today's creature is the harpy. Yet another offspring from Echidna and Typhon, harpies are usually depicted as ugly, hideous creatures with bird bodies and a woman's face. They suffer from a hunger that can never be satisfied.

According to Greek mythology, Phineas angered Zeus by revealing too much about the future with his gift of prophecy. As his punishment, Phineas was sent to a land where a huge banquet was always set. But whenever he sat down to eat, harpies would swoop down and steal his food and spoil the rest. This continued until Jason and the Argonauts came. Two of the Argonauts could fly as they were sons of Boreas, the North Wind. They chased away the harpies, but did not kill them at the request of their sister Iris the rainbow goddess after she promised that the harpies would not plague Phineas anymore.

Most pictures of the harpies are much uglier than this one, but I liked this one so much that I posted this one.

If you have time, why don't you stop by the Raven and the Writing Desk blog? I wrote a short story for you all to enjoy called Too Much Luck. I hope you enjoy it!