"When the ancient Greeks obtained the Arabian horse, they became conscious of his immortal and celestial derivation. In his honor they fashioned a god called Pegasus - a winged Arabian horse who occasionally descended to earth, but otherwise lived in heaven with the rest of the Olympians - a symbol of perfection, poetry raised to the heights, one of God's most beautiful and spiritual ideas."

"According to legend, Pegasus, whose name means 'of the springs of water,' struck Mount Helicon with his hoof and, upon doing so, a spring came forth from the mountain which people called Hippocrene ("the horse well") because it was shaped like a horseshoe. Poets were said to drink from the Hippocrene for inspiration."

Pegasus, in Greek mythology, was the flying horse that belonged to Bellerophon. The winged steed was born from blood which had spilled from the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa, who was already pregnant from the sea god Poseidon (a deity always associated with bulls and horses). Bellerophon was given a magic bridle by Athena to help him tame Pegasus. When the hero tried to fly to Mount Olympus, he fell to the earth and Pegasus was captured by Zeus to carry thunderbolts.

Dictionary.com says that Pegasus is "A winged horse that with a stroke of his hoof caused the fountain Hippocrene to spring forth from Mount Helicon."

Picture 1 By Sam Wood
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Abbreviation: Peg
Genitive: Pegasi
Translation: The Winged Horse

Position in the Sky:
Right Ascension: 22 hours
Declination: 20 degrees
Visible between latitudes 90 and -60 degrees
Best seen in October (at 9:00 PM)