| Harpy | |
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Other Names |
Harpy, Harpȳia |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy is a half-human and half-bird, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. Harpies were generally depicted as birds with the heads of maidens, faces pale with hunger and long claws on their hands. Roman and Byzantine writers detailed their ugliness. Pottery art depicting the harpies featured beautiful women with wings. Ovid described them as human-vultures.
The harpies seem originally to have been wind spirits (personifications of the destructive nature of wind). Their name means 'snatchers' or 'swift robbers', and they were said to steal food from their victims while they were eating and carry evildoers (especially those who have killed their families) to the Erinyes. When a person suddenly disappeared from the Earth, it was said that he had been carried off by the harpies. Thus, they carried off the daughters of King Pandareus and gave them as servants to the Erinyes. In this form they were agents of punishment who abducted people and tortured them on their way to Tartarus. They were depicted as vicious, cruel, and violent.
The harpies were called "the hounds of mighty Zeus" thus "ministers of the Thunderer (Zeus)". Later writers listed the harpies among the guardians of the underworld among other monstrosities including the Centaurs, Scylla, Briareus, Lernaean Hydra, Chimera, Gorgons and Geryon.
Their abode was described as either the islands called Strofades, a place at the entrance of Orcus, or a cave in Crete.
According to Valerius, Typhoeus (Typhon) was said to be the father of these monsters while a different version by Servius told that the harpies were daughters of Pontus and Gaea or of Poseidon.
The most celebrated story in which the harpies play a part is that of King Phineus of Thrace, who was given the gift of prophecy by Zeus. Angry that Phineus gave away the god's secret plan, Zeus punished him by blinding him and putting him on an island with a buffet of food which he could never eat because the harpies always arrived to steal the food out of his hands before he could satisfy his hunger. Later writers add that they either devoured the food themselves, or that they dirtied it by dropping upon it some stinking substance, so as to render it unfit to be eaten.
This continued until the arrival of Jason and the Argonauts. Phineus promised to instruct them respecting the course they had to take, if they would deliver him from the harpies. The Boreads, sons of Boreas, the North Wind, who also could fly, succeeded in driving off the harpies. According to an ancient oracle, the harpies were to perish by the hands of the Boreades, but the Boreades were to die if they could not overtake the harpies. The harpies fled, but one fell into the river Tigris, which was hence called Harpys, and the other reached the Echinades, and as she never returned, the islands were called Strophades. But being worn out with fatigue, she fell down simultaneously with her pursuer; and, as they promised no further to molest Phineus, the two harpies were not deprived of their lives. According to others, the Boreades were on the point of killing the harpies, when Iris or Hermes appeared and commanded the conquerors to set them free, promising that Phineus would not be bothered by the harpies again. "The dogs of great Zeus" then returned to their "cave in Minoan Crete". Other accounts said that both the harpies as well as the Boreades died. Thankful for their help, Phineus told the Argonauts how to pass the Symplegades.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Harpies from before January 1, 1929 are in the public domain in the US.
Notable appearances include:
- Aeneid
- Dante's Inferno
- Orlando Furioso
- Tempest
- Monstrorum Historia
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Zoot Comics #10 - Rulah battled the Harpies from Hades and their queen Masta. The harpies attack the jungle and kidnap men with the intention of eating them.
- The Beyond #15 - Two men discover a harpy (half bird, half woman) in New York's Central Park. They fall under her spell. When the creature kills one of the men, the other manages to break free and destroy the fiend.
- Weird Comics #10 - The Sorceress of Zoom deals with King Druid and his harpies.
- Voodoo #7 - A swarm of locusts spreads across the Earth. This forces all the nations of Earth to team up to get rid of the insects. However it turns out they were alien pets of extraterrestrial harpies who then come to conquer the Earth!
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Harpies[]
- Blackhawk #23 - Blackhawk fights the flying pirates of Captain Harpy.
- Tim Holt Comics #30 - Ghost Rider fought Belle Martin, the Harpy.
- Blue Beetle (Fox Feature Syndicate) #6 - Sub Saunders deals with the creature named Lugo also known as the Harpie of Horror.