{"id":5438,"date":"2026-04-27T10:37:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/harpies\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:34:31","slug":"harpies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/harpies\/","title":{"rendered":"Harpies"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"5438\" class=\"elementor elementor-5438 elementor-2156 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Harpies, demon of the Greek tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Harpies are <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demons<\/span> of the Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p>Plundering storm beings, bird-women with talons, messengers of wrath and plague. The Harpies are storm beings that suddenly sweep in, snatch and vanish. They are faster than the wind, unyielding and cruel.<\/p><p>In the Argonaut <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative often with a historical core and miraculous features.\" tabindex=\"0\">saga<\/span> they torment the seer Phineus until the Argonauts drive them off. They are not goddesses but demons, functions of evil rather than personalities with depth.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Demon: A supernatural being with mostly harmful or ambivalent effect. It stands between gods and humans, causes illness, temptation or misfortune and is warded off through invocation, apotropaic objects and rituals.\">Demon<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/greece\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Religion and mythology of ancient Greece from the Mycenaean period to late antiquity.\">Greece<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_harpyien-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5439\" alt=\"Harpies - demons from the Greek tradition, historical and illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_harpyien-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_harpyien-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_harpyien-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/daemonen_griechenland_harpyien.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Harpies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11758e7f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"11758e7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><p><strong>The Harpies in Hesiod and early Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The conception of the structure and order of the world within a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">cosmology<\/span><\/strong><\/p><p>Hesiod&#8217;s <em>Theogony<\/em> names the Harpies as daughters of the Titan Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra; they thus belong to the generation of the gods, but are not Olympian.<\/p><p>Hesiod gives them names: Aello (the one swift as the storm wind), Ocypete (the swift-flying one) and, in some manuscripts, also Podarge (Swift-foot). From the outset they are conceived as wind beings, not as pure bird-women.<\/p><p>This cosmological placement is telling: the Harpies are older than the Olympians and embody the untamed natural forces of the cosmos.<\/p><p>According to Hesiod they are not malicious but function as agents of the divine world, specialized in plunder and rapid movement. Their genealogy links them with other <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the earth or the underworld; in ancient religion the gods and spirits of the depths (Hades, the Erinyes, Demeter chthonia).\" tabindex=\"0\">chthonic<\/span> and aerial powers that precede the ordered Olympus.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Short Profile: Harpies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> Mythical being (bird-women, hybrid)<br><strong>Tradition:<\/strong> Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted stories of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span><br><strong>Class:<\/strong> Goddess\/<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which a harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span> (sub-divine)<br><strong>Role:<\/strong> Punishing goddesses of Zeus<br><strong>Sources:<\/strong> Hesiod Theogony, Homer, Aeschylus, Apollodorus, Ovid<br><strong>Sphere of action:<\/strong> The skies, food, divine punishment, plague<br><strong>Main conflict:<\/strong> Between the will of the gods and human prosperity<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Context<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the texts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hesiod&#8217;s Theogony, around 700 BC, names the Harpies as daughters of Thaumas and Electra (Aello, Ocypete). Homer&#8217;s Odyssey I, 240, 245 as bringers of ruin. Aeschylus&#8217; Oresteia expands the theme with a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A verbal formula by which harm is to be inflicted on a person or thing.\" tabindex=\"0\">curse<\/span>. Apollodorus, 1st to 2nd century AD, and Ovid&#8217;s Metamorphoses: the Argonaut episode.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of distribution<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Area of distribution:<\/strong> Thrace and the northern Aegean (birthplace of Thaumas). Argonaut <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative often with a historical core and miraculous features.\" tabindex=\"0\">saga<\/span>: the Propontis and the Black Sea (the curse of Phineus). Rome: Harpyiae (Furies of the air). Venerated in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> as messengers of wrath, less as individual beings.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Source situation<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Primary sources:<\/strong><br><em>Hesiod, Theogony<\/em> 265, 270<br><em>Homer, Odyssey<\/em> I, 240, 245<br><em>Aeschylus, Oresteia<\/em><br><em>Apollodorus, Bibliotheca<\/em> I, 9, 21<br><em>Ovid, Metamorphoses<\/em> III, 209, 258<br><strong>Secondary sources:<\/strong> Burkert; Bremmer; West; Rohde<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and variants<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Harpies are depicted as <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span>: the upper body of a woman, the lower body of a bird (eagle or bird of prey). They have sharp talons instead of hands.<\/p><p>Sometimes they are shown smeared with foul smell or excrement (in the Phineus episode). Their symbols are plunder, the whirlwind, plague and lightning speed. They are aggressive, not depicted aesthetically like the Sirens, but rather monstrous and menacing. Wings and talons dominate their <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Characteristics<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Harpies are not venerated but feared and fought. They are instruments of punishment: in the Phineus episode Zeus or Poseidon sends them to plague Phineus for his disobedience. They are bringers of plague, raptor demons, forces of chaos.<\/p><p>They represent uncontrollable natural powers, storms that destroy the harvest, animals that tear at humans. They sometimes work for the gods (as instruments of punishment), but have no independent agenda beyond plunder and chaos. They are lower than other demons, more animal than reflective.<\/p><p><strong>Appearance and symbolism<\/strong><\/p><p>The Harpies are depicted as <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span>, the upper body of beautiful women (sometimes with wings at the shoulders) and the lower body or legs of eagles or sometimes dragons.<\/p><p>They bear clawed hands and feet. Their hair flies wild, their eyes glint with evil intent. Sometimes they are shown with bird feathers and a wild sheen.<\/p><p>The eagle is their <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacred<\/span> animal, or they are themselves half eagle. Their colors are gray-brown or dark red, the colors of decay and plunder. They smell terrible; a central feature is their stench, which spoils everything. They embody the rapacious and wild aspect of nature, the experience of being robbed, of being torn away.<\/p><div><p><strong>The Harpies in the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes<\/strong><\/p><p>Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BC) depicts in his <em>Argonautica<\/em> 2.188-300 the famous episode in which the Argonauts free the blind king Phineus from the Harpies.<\/p><p>These Harpies (Aello and Ocypete) are malicious and destructive: they scratch and befoul all the food that Phineus touches. Apollonius describes them as winged maidens with bird-like lower bodies and human upper bodies, swift as the wind.<\/p><p>The hero Zetes and his brother Calais, themselves winged (sons of Boreas, the god of the north wind), pursue the Harpies across the sea to the Strophades Islands. This literary dramatization strongly shaped the visual iconography: Harpies were increasingly depicted as bird-women in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The era of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BCE to 600 CE.\" tabindex=\"0\">classical<\/span> reliefs and vase paintings, less as abstract wind demons.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: Harpies<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Harpies are female storm demons of Greek mythology, half woman, half bird, whose name derives from the Greek word for snatching. They are best known from the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An edifying narrative, usually about the lives of saints.\" tabindex=\"0\">legend<\/span> of the blind seer Phineus, whose food they stole or defiled until the winged sons of Boreas drove them off during the voyage of the Argonauts. The Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes and Virgil&#8217;s Aeneid are the most important literary sources for their figure.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Tradition<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Genealogy:<\/strong> Daughters of Thaumas (wonder, amazement) and the Oceanid Electra. Demigoddesses of the second generation. Sister: Iris (goddess of the rainbow). <br><strong>Main Harpies:<\/strong> Aello (storm wind), Ocypete (swift flyer), Podarge, Celaeno, Thyella.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Target group of the Harpies<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Function:<\/strong> Punishing goddesses of Zeus who bring ruin when humans commit outrage. Not independently evil, but executors of divine vengeance. They steal food, befoul <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express gratitude, petition, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offerings<\/span>, bring plague and hunger. <br><strong>Target group:<\/strong> Kings and rulers, the example being Phineus: punishment for blood guilt.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Appearance<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> sources describe the Harpies as <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites features of different creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid creatures<\/span> of woman and bird: winged, with claws and a woman&#8217;s face. In Homer and Hesiod they still appear as swift storm <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A bodiless being to which agency in the world is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirits<\/span>; only later poetry stresses the repulsive side of their appearance. In the Aeneid, Virgil portrays them as starved bird bodies with pale girls&#8217; faces that befoul everything they touch.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sphere of action<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Mythical effect:<\/strong> Phineus of Thrace: the Harpies pursue him, devour and defile his food, a psychological torment as he starves. Jason and the Argonauts send Zetes and Calais (sons of Boreas), who drive the Harpies off. Aeschylus: continuation of the curse of the house of Atreus. Amphitheater mosaics in Rome: a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of a conception or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of divine wrath.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Means of protection<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Against the Harpies, who were regarded as plundering storm and abduction demons, the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> knows above all <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> and narrative defense.<\/p><p>In the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> of the blind seer Phineus, the winged Boreads Zetes and Calais drive off the Harpies, who steal and befoul his food, a narrative that itself served a protective function by holding up the conquerability of the demons before the eyes.<\/p><p>In funerary art, for example on the so-called Harpy Monument of Xanthos, harpy-like <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span> appear as carriers of souls and marked the threshold between the living and the dead. A distinct <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, evil-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">amulet<\/span> tradition against Harpies has not been transmitted; the defense remained bound to <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The verbal turning of a human being toward a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">prayer<\/span>, purification and mythical narrative.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Related beings<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Close to the Harpies stand the Sirens, likewise bird-women of Greek mythology, who however bring ruin through song rather than through theft. Also related are the storm and wind spirits as well as the Erinyes, with whom the Harpies share common ground in their function as executors of divine punishment. Genealogically they count as daughters of the sea being Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, which makes them sisters of the divine messenger Iris.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Practical defense<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rituals of defense<\/strong><\/p><p>In Thrace and the Aegean, protective rituals at sacrificial festivals with cloths or nets for defense. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">Sanctuaries<\/span> of Apollo: prayers for protection against wind demons.<\/p><p><strong>Invocations and summonings<\/strong><\/p><p>No direct invocations of the Harpies, but rather formulas of defense. Stoic tradition: <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The verbal turning of a human being toward a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">prayer<\/span> to Apollo or Zeus for restraint. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of events through special actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">Magical<\/span> papyri of Egypt: <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaic<\/span> spells against swift women.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and protective symbols<\/strong><\/p><p>The net (\u03c3\u03ac\u03b3\u03b7\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2) as an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, evil-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">amulet<\/span> for <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands representatively for a concept or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbolic<\/span> capture. Depictions of eagles or falcons (enemies of the Harpies). Roman houses: mosaics of fleeing Harpies at entrance thresholds for defense.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Harpies, parallels in other cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Plundering and storm beings exist everywhere: Valkyries (Scandinavia, plunder of battle, but nobler), Banshees (Ireland, heralds of death), Tengu (Japan, raptor demons). The Harpies also resemble demons in other cultures that plunder and plague: Rakshasas (India), <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"In the Quran, beings made of smokeless fire with free will, neither angel nor demon, but an independent creation with their own morality.\" tabindex=\"0\">Jinn<\/span> (Islam, though more complex).<\/p><p>They differ in that they have almost no personality; they are functions of punishment and chaos. They are the principle of disorder in Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The conception of the structure and order of the world within a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">cosmology<\/span>.<\/p><div><p><strong>The Harpies in Virgil and the Roman adaptation<\/strong><\/p><p>Virgil&#8217;s <em>Aeneid<\/em> 3.209-258 presents the Harpies as demonic forces of punishment. The fleet of Aeneas lands on the Strophades and finds magnificent herds there; the Harpies swoop down and desecrate everything the Trojans eat. The Latin description is darker than that of Apollonius: they smell horribly, are loud as thunder, their touch is a curse.<\/p><p>Virgil&#8217;s version links them with karmic punishment; the Harpies act at the bidding of higher gods (especially Venus and Fate). This shifts the function from the merely chaotic nature being toward the cosmic agent of punishment.<\/p><p>Roman writers adopted this interpretation: Harpies as embodiments of rapacity, sin and waste. They appear in later allegorical works, for example in Dante Alighieri, as symbols of boundless hunger and of robbery.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp5a309e2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp5a309e2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp8be853b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp8be853b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Harpies and the Phineus episode in Apollonius of Rhodes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp243d292 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp243d292\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp851ca19 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp851ca19\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most detailed <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> account of the Harpies is found in the second book of the <em>Argonautica<\/em> of Apollonius of Rhodes from the 3rd century BC. There, on their voyage to Colchis, the Argonauts encounter the blind seer Phineus, king of Thrace, who was punished by the gods because he had revealed the future too freely.<\/p><p>His punishment consisted in the Harpies snatching the food away at every meal or spoiling it with their stench, so that he was close to starvation. Phineus prophesied to the Argonauts their voyage on the condition that they free him from the Harpies.<\/p><p>The winged sons of Boreas, Zetes and Calais, pursued the monsters through the air as far as the Strophades Islands. There the divine messenger Iris held the Boreads back and swore by the Styx that the Harpies would no longer trouble Phineus.<\/p><p>This episode was known even before Apollonius; it was treated in the lost epic of early poetry and in Attic tragedies, for example by Aeschylus and Sophocles, whose <em>Phineus<\/em> dramas survive only in fragments.<\/p><p>Scholarship sees in the story an ancient <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring element of content in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> of the starving king plagued by demonic beings, whose deliverance is tied to the hero&#8217;s voyage. In Virgil the Harpies return in the <em>Aeneid<\/em>, where they encounter the landing Trojans on the same Strophades.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp0ca5619 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp0ca5619\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp9e9261f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp9e9261f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">From wind spirit to hybrid form: the development of the image<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp24b7342 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp24b7342\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp60e12e9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp60e12e9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The conception of the Harpies changed considerably over the course of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span>. In the oldest texts, in Homer and Hesiod, they are not ugly bird-women but personified storm winds.<\/p><p>Homer mentions a Harpy named Podarge, who with the west wind Zephyros begets the immortal horses of Achilles. In the <em>Theogony<\/em> Hesiod names two Harpies, Aello and Ocypete, daughters of Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra, and describes them as beautiful-haired and swift as the wind.<\/p><p>Their name is usually derived from the Greek verb <em>harpazein<\/em> (to rob, to snatch away), which suits their function as beings that make people and things disappear without a trace. When in the Odyssey someone disappears inexplicably, it is said that the Harpies have carried him off.<\/p><p>Only in post-classical times, clearly tangible in Apollonius and Virgil, does the image of the repulsive <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid being<\/span> with a bird body, a woman&#8217;s face, claws and foul smell take firm shape.<\/p><p><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The discipline that researches religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">Religious studies<\/span> explains this change as a fusion of the old wind-<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An incorporeal being to which effects in the world are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">spirit<\/span> concept with the conceptions of plundering demons of the dead, with which the Harpies were iconographically and functionally related. The later demonization almost entirely displaced the older, more neutral image from memory.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpdfe1c5d e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpdfe1c5d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpc7285dc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpc7285dc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Harpies in ancient visual art and the Harpy Monument of Xanthos<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpbc52ef2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpbc52ef2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp48f8883 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp48f8883\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In Greek visual art, Harpies and the Sirens, Keres and Sphinxes closely related to them are often difficult to distinguish, since they were all depicted as winged <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span> of woman and bird.<\/p><p>On Attic vases they appear mostly in connection with the Phineus episode, in flight over a laid table or in pursuit by the Boreads.<\/p><p>The best-known monument that bears their name is the so-called Harpy Monument from Xanthos in Lycia, a tall pillar tomb from the early 5th century BC, whose <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A representation worked in raised relief out of a surface.\" tabindex=\"0\">relief<\/span> panels are today in the British Museum. The reliefs show winged female beings carrying off small human figures in their arms.<\/p><p>Older scholarship interpreted these figures as Harpies, hence the name of the monument. Newer <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The discipline that researches past cultures on the basis of material finds.\" tabindex=\"0\">archaeology<\/span> is more cautious: they are probably Sirens, or more generally soul-guides who lead the deceased into the afterlife. The scene thus illustrates not so much a robbery as an orderly conveyance of the soul.<\/p><p>The case shows in exemplary fashion how difficult the identification of such beings in visual art is, and how much the namings of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> rest in part on modern conjectures. The close kinship of Harpy, <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/sirens\/\">Siren<\/a> and soul demon in Greek thought becomes especially clear here.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpc4ce713 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpc4ce713\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe917330 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpe917330\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Harpies in Dante's Hell and the medieval reception<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpa0b4cec e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpa0b4cec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp349a725 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp349a725\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Beyond <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span>, the Harpies continued to exert influence above all through Virgil&#8217;s <em>Aeneid<\/em>, which belonged to the school texts in the Middle Ages. The most influential reception is found in Dante&#8217;s <em>Divine Comedy<\/em>.<\/p><p>In the thirteenth canto of the <em>Inferno<\/em>, Dante and Virgil enter the wood of the suicides, whose withered trees are the souls of those who took their own lives.<\/p><p>In the branches of this wood the Harpies nest. Dante describes them with broad wings, human necks and faces, clawed feet and feathered bellies.<\/p><p>They tear the leaves of the soul-trees, which causes the damned pain and is at the same time the only way through which they can speak at all. Dante draws expressly on Virgil&#8217;s depiction of the Strophades and transfers the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring element of content in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> of the food-robbers to the torment of the suicides.<\/p><p>This connection of Harpy and self-destruction strongly shaped the post-medieval image. In the Renaissance and the Baroque, the Harpies became a fixed pictorial motif that stood in emblematics for avarice, greed and harmful influence.<\/p><p>In heraldry they appear as a heraldic creature uniting a woman&#8217;s head and a bird&#8217;s body. The path from the Homeric wind spirit by way of the Virgilian food-robber to the Dantean creature of hell shows how a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring element of content in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> was interpreted anew again and again over two millennia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp0f8e9ff e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp0f8e9ff\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp6630211 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp6630211\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Harpies, Erinyes and the problem of punishing demons<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp9f31bbf e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp9f31bbf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp6a83714 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp6a83714\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>From the perspective of religious studies, the question is interesting of how the Harpies relate to other female beings of punishment and vengeance in Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted stories of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, in particular to the <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/erinyes\/\">Erinyes<\/a>. Both groups appear as executors of divine punishment, both are female, both are depicted with wings and a terrifying appearance.<\/p><p>In some sources the boundaries blur. In Apollonius the Harpies are called the hounds of Zeus, a formula that is also used for other executors of punishment.<\/p><p>In the Phineus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> the Harpies do not act on their own impulse but as the instrument of a punishment imposed by the gods. In this they resemble the Erinyes, who pursue blood guilt on behalf of the cosmic order.<\/p><p>The differences are nonetheless clear. The Erinyes are bound to concrete offenses, above all to the murder of kin and the breaking of oaths, and they possess an elaborated cultic position, for example as the Eumenides in the Athenian <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>.<\/p><p>The Harpies, by contrast, remain almost without cultic significance; no <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A structure that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temples<\/span> or <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A gift to a deity in order to express thanks, request or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifices<\/span> are known for them.<\/p><p>They are narrative figures rather than objects of veneration. Scholarship places them in a broad spectrum of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being that unites the features of various living creatures in itself.\" tabindex=\"0\">hybrid beings<\/span> that reaches from the abducting Keres through the Sirens to the Erinyes, and in which the Greek imagination gave form to the sudden, inexplicable and punishing intervention of superhuman powers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpcc0b6fe e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpcc0b6fe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp3ce0320 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp3ce0320\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Genealogy and the daughters of Thaumas<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe12730f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpe12730f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp5e8d74e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp5e8d74e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The placement of the Harpies in the Greek genealogy of the gods is, despite their slight cultic significance, astonishingly consistent. In the <em>Theogony<\/em> Hesiod names them as daughters of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. They are thus sisters of Iris, the winged messenger of the gods and personification of the rainbow.<\/p><p>This kinship is more than a genealogical detail. It anchors the Harpies firmly within the sphere of wind, water and air phenomena, to which they belong by their oldest function.<\/p><p>Iris as messenger between heaven and earth, the Harpies as embodiments of the plundering storm gust, both stem from the same district of natural powers. It is therefore consistent that of all figures it is Iris who intervenes in the Phineus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> and calls her sisters to order.<\/p><p>The number and the names of the Harpies vary in the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>. Hesiod knows two, Aello (storm gust) and Ocypete (swift flight), Homer a third, Podarge (Swift-foot). Later authors add the name Celaeno (the dark one), which plays a particular role in Virgil, where a Celaeno gives the Trojans a gloomy <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The prediction of future events by religious or magical means.\" tabindex=\"0\">prophecy<\/span>.<\/p><p>These variations are typical of mythological collectives without a fixed <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>. The speaking names, however, show throughout that the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> conception understood the Harpies primarily as beings embodying speed and wind, long before the image of the loathsome bird-women prevailed.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further links<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6538df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6538df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/nyx\/\">Nyx, goddess of night, mother of plague<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><span data-nosnippet>West, Martin L.: Hesiod, Theogony: Commentary. 1966<\/span><\/li><li>Bremmer, Jan N.: Greek Religion. 2008<\/li><li>Rohde, Erwin: Psyche. 1925<\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Vernant, Jean-Pierre: The Universe, the Gods, and Men. 2001<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n<p class=\"iwg-bib-more\"><span data-nosnippet>Further standard works in the <a href=\"\/en\/literature\/\">literature index<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-harpyien-sec e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgca-harpyien-sec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-ca-harpyien\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgca-harpyien-te iwg-ca-textwrap elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgca-harpyien-te\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p class=\"iwg-ca-bridge\">The protective practice described here is a religious-studies classification of historical traditions. iWell Guard ties in with this cultural-historical line of portable protective objects and represents a contemporary form of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&#038;utm_medium=text-link&#038;utm_campaign=schadwesen-tradition\">More about the iWell Guard \u2192<\/a><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harpies, demon of the Greek tradition The Harpies are demons of the Greek tradition. Plundering storm beings, bird-women with talons, messengers of wrath and plague. The Harpies are storm beings that suddenly sweep in, snatch and vanish. They are faster than the wind, unyielding and cruel. In the Argonaut saga they torment the seer Phineus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5439,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Harpies","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Harpies: Storm Beings of Greek Mythology","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Bird-women with talons, raptor demons and storm beings. 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