Harpyiae
- I Mythical rapacious monsters, half bird and half woman, the Harpies, Verg. A. 3, 212 sq.; 6, 289; Hor. S. 2, 2, 40; Val. Fl. 4, 428; Hyg. Fab. 14.—In sing.: Harpyia Celaeno, Verg. A. 3, 365.—
- B Transf., in sing., a rapacious person, a harpy, Sid. Ep. 5, 7.—
- II Also in sing., the name of one of Actaeon's hounds, Ov. M. 3, 215.
HarpyiasPoetarum. Tralate Sidon. lib. 5. Ep. 7 :
In foro Scythæ, in cubiculo viperæ, in convivio scurræ, in exactionibus Harpyiæ.
(Ἅρπυιαι). The Harpies were originally the goddesses of the devastating storm, symbolizing the sudden and total disappearance of men. Homer only names one of them (Il. xvi. 150), Podargé, or “the swift-footed,” who, in the shape of a mare, bore to Zephyrus the horses of Achilles. In Hesiod (Theog. 267) the Harpies appear as winged goddesses with beautiful hair, daughters of Thaumas and Electra, sisters of Iris, with the names of Aëllo and Ocypeté. In the later story their number increased, their names being Aëllopus, Ocythoë, Nicothoë, and Celaeno. They are there represented as half-birds, half-maidens, and as spirits of mischief. In the story of the Argonauts, for instance, they torment Phineus by carrying off and polluting his food till they are driven off by Calaïs and Zetes, and either killed or banished to the island of the Strophades, where they are bound by an oath to remain. See Verg. Aen. iii. 211-244.