Harpy name. Harpy. Their serious problems

The body length of the harpy is from 90 to 110 cm. The wingspan is approximately 2 meters. The female's weight ranges from 6 to 9 kg, the male is smaller and weighs from 4 to 4.8 kg. The plumage on the back of the harpy is dark gray. The head is light gray with large dark eyes and a small but strong black beak. On the crown of the bird there are wide dark feathers, which at moments of excitement rise almost vertically, forming a kind of "crown". In young animals, such a tuft is lighter. The belly is white, the paws are feathered and dotted with narrow dark stripes. The neck is decorated with a wide dark collar. On the long tail wide gray transverse stripes are located. The legs of the harpy are very strong and large, they can support a very large weight. The fingers have long black claws. Like all hawks, harpies have excellent eyesight and hearing.

Harpies feed mainly on sloths, monkeys and other mammals, much less often they include reptiles or large birds in their diet. So, snakes and lizards, agouti, opossum, nosuha, anteater, armadillo, kraksa, karyama, parrots become the prey of harpies. Sometimes harpies can even hunt porcupines. And from human settlements, these predators kidnap piglets, lambs, and even cats.

Harpies hunt in the daytime. The prey is most often located on tree branches, where it feels safe, however, a large harpy makes its way very nimbly between the branches and unexpectedly grabs careless sloths, monkeys, possums or other species of mammals. The powerful paws of the predator allow it to both easily hold the caught prey and break its bones. But the harpy is considered a very cunning predator. She does not kill her victim immediately, but tears out her trachea, after which the animal suffers for a long time. Such cruelty is justified by natural necessity and allows the harpy to carry the prey while still warm to the chicks, which in turn learn to deal with the still living mammal.

Harpies also hunt in open areas. So, they can drag away even a small deer.

Bird spread

The habitat of harpies is the tropical forests of Central and South America ranging from Mexico to Brazil. Birds usually live in the wildest thickets of tropical forests located near rivers or other bodies of water. Most often, the bird can be seen in the forests of Brazil, Panama, Colombia and southern Mexico.

Common types of harpy

The most famous and widespread type of harpy is the South American or large harpy (Harpia harpyja). In addition, two more related species are known: New Guinea (Harpyopsis novaeguineae) and Guiana harpy (Morphnus guianensis).

A large bird with a body length from 71 to 89 cm, its wingspan is 138 - 176 cm. The weight of males is from 1.75 to 3 kg, females are usually slightly larger in size.

The species lives in South America and is found in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia to the north of Argentina.

The Guiana Harpy often lives next to the South American Harpy. But the first, on average, is smaller in size and therefore chooses smaller prey. Among its victims are birds and small mammals (capuchins, tamarins), as well as snakes.

Very large bird with a body length from 75 to 91 cm. It is distinguished by a developed facial disc and a tuft at the vertex. Feathers are not feathered. The wings are short. The tail is long. The diet consists of mammals, birds and reptiles. It hunts in the crowns of trees.

The species is common in the rainforests of New Guinea and is scarce. The bird was a traditional hunting object of the natives, who highly value its feathers. And it was almost completely exterminated after the local residents received firearms. Now the New Guinea harpy is still endangered and very closely guarded.

Sexual dimorphism in harpies is manifested in the fact that the female is always 10-20% larger in size than the male. In the color of the plumage, individuals of different sex do not differ from each other.

The mating season for harpies occurs in April-May, not annually, but after a year. Harpies are monogamous birds, therefore, when the breeding season approaches, they do not fuss, because they already have a nest and a pair.

Birds nest in the crown of trees at heights of 50 to 75 m above the ground, often not far from water bodies. The harpy's nest is equipped with a wide one, made of thick branches, inside the bird is lined with leaves and moss. A pair of harpies have been using the old nest for several years.

In one clutch the female has one or two yellowish eggs. But even two eggs are too many for the harpies, which always feed exclusively their firstborn. If a second chick is born, then, as a rule, it dies of hunger right in the nest.

During the nesting period, harpies are especially aggressive and cruel. During this period, they often attack even people who disturbed them.

A harpy chick develops slowly, and its parents take care of it for a long time. Only by the 8-10th month of life, the chick can fly confidently, but it is not yet able to get food on its own, and therefore does not fly far from the nest. His parents continue to feed him, but they arrive less and less often. The chick can remain without food for 10 to 14 days.

Young harpies reach sexual maturity by the age of 4, by which time their plumage becomes brighter and richer.

The life span of a harpy is up to 30 years.

Interesting facts about the bird

The name of the harpy in ancient Greece referred to the winged daughters of Typhon, who guarded the entrance to Tartarus. According to legends, these wonderful and terrible half-women, half-birds were engaged in kidnapping the souls of young children, who were attacked unexpectedly and then disappeared without a trace, like the wind. Therefore, the word "harpy" itself is of Greek origin and is translated as "to abduct". It is not by chance that the predatory South American harpy received such a name. Like its namesake, this large hawk bird is surrounded by a halo of notoriety. So, the Indians believed that one blow of its beak could crush a person's skull, and the bird itself is very aggressive. At the same time, the harpies were tamed, which was a great honor for the owner, and beautiful valuable jewelry was made from its feathers. If an Indian happened to kill a harpy, then in every hut of his settlement he received a reward for this act.
The harpy is one of the largest birds of prey in the world. The largest individual recorded in captivity weighed about 12 kg.
Harpies are the official symbol of the state of Panama; its coat of arms is decorated with a bird.
Today, the population of South American harpies numbers about 50,000 individuals, but continues to decline. The main reason is the destruction of forests where these birds are used to nesting. In addition, harpies reproduce rather slowly: a pair of birds raises only one chick once every few years. Therefore, the harpies are under strict protection.

In ancient mythology, a harpy is a creature with a bird's body and the head of an old woman. It was the personification of vicious passions. Harpy is a bird that got its name because of the cruelty with which it eats its prey. Being a rather large carnivore harpy, it is an excellent hunter with a proud, even majestic appearance.

The harpy bird settles in Central and South America. You can recognize it by its characteristic plumage. The feathers of the wings are black and white, the head and chest are white, on the back of the head there is thick plumage, which stands on end at the moment of excitement. At such a moment, it seems that the bird has a wreath of feathers on its head. The South American harpy still terrifies the locals. First, because of its size. The body length of the female reaches 100-110 cm, while the bird can weigh up to 9 kg. Secondly, because of the terrible strong beak and powerful developed paws with pointed claws. Moreover, the observers are frightened by the harpy: the bird (photo below) cruelly deals with its victim. According to the observations of experts, the predator loves most of all to torture monkeys.

Harpy is a bird that can hover over its territory for hours, looking for flocks of monkeys, after which it chooses a prey for itself and grabs it. The torture begins with the fact that the harpy pecks out the victim's eyes, then tears the throat, and then tears it to pieces. Scientists cannot figure out the phenomenon of this hatred. After all, the predator destroys any other prey instantly. The harpy often preys on smaller birds, parrots, possums, gophers and domestic sheep and pigs, but it is the monkeys that make them suffer and suffer. During the hunt, she uses her colossal vision, and in the dark, her heightened hearing. Falling like a stone from a height, this predator leaves no chance for its prey. Even the harpy carries livestock. The bird remains, however, inviolable, as it is sacred to the Aboriginal Indians.

Despite this circumstance, the bird population is sharply declining. The reason is also the harm to the environment caused by humans. In addition, after mating, only one egg appears in the clutch; the mating season occurs once every two years. This low fertility is due to the large size of the harpy. A couple formed during puberty does not split up for the rest of their lives. Each family has a well-defined territory. At the highest point of the cliff there is a huge nest in diameter - up to 2 meters! In it, a couple can live their whole life if they are not disturbed. After the chick appears, the father protects the nest from strangers and hunts. The female is caring. Unfortunately, this is very rarely observed in captivity. There is only one known case when the zoo managed to get offspring from a harpy, and that chick soon died.

After birth, the chick is in the nest for a long time. Parents react sensitively to any encroachment, they can even attack a person. This care continues until the chick flies out of the nest. This happens at the age of 1 year, although already at 10 months the bird flies confidently. Sexual maturity does not occur earlier than after 4 years. So far, the harpy population numbers about 2 thousand individuals. This figure is negligible, for this reason the harpy is a bird listed in the International Red Book.

Harpies are mythical monsters from the Greek epic. From Latin the word "harpy" is translated as "abductor", "predator". The ancient Greeks described harpies as half-female, half-birds with a disgusting appearance - this prevailing idea of harpies is often exploited by modern science fiction writers, game creators and many others.

In the article:

Harpies - Angels of Death

The harpies were an archaic legacy of earlier times, deities older than the well-known Olympians. They are personifications of various manifestations of storms and thunderstorms, the embodiment of the fear of the Greeks before the force of the elements... They also acted as, taking the souls of the dead to Hades on last judgment... They were spawned by the sea deity Tavmant and the oceanis Electra. Or Ozomena, daughter of the north wind Boreas, nicknamed "stinking."

They were immortal and could not die from hunger, cold and other reasons. But these monsters constantly suffered from malnutrition, because satiety, like the accursed Tantalus, did not know. They were driven from everywhere, since the harpies were not only disgusting in appearance and evil in character, but also fetid, filthy monsters. They guarded the gates of Tartarus, made sure that those doomed to eternal torment did not leave their prison, and no one entered there from the outside.

Ancient Greek myths describe them as kidnappers of children and souls who come unexpectedly like the wind and disappear just as quickly. Homer mentioned them in his "Odyssey", calling them some of the most ferocious, unrestrained and disgusting monsters. They terrified the hearts of mere mortals.

IN modern world a harpy can be called a woman of a quarrelsome character, with an evil heart and a bad disposition. There is an assumption according to which the winged monsters personified heterosexuals close to the king. On these courtesans, the king spent huge sums from the treasury.

Appearance, number and names of harpies

Harpies are feral female birds, winged and ugly. They have powerful legs like scavenger vultures. On paws - long sharp claws, tearing flesh with ease. Due to eternal hunger, their skin is dried up, like that of the dead, has a deathly gray tint: even full female breasts and a human face do not cause attraction.

Characteristic features - disheveled matted hair, wings and torso covered with eternal dirt. The ears are pointed and protruding, and there are many warts on the long hooked nose. According to some legends, they have both wings and arms at the same time. In a number of sources, only the heads and legs are avian, while the breasts, belly and hips are human. They are sometimes described as monsters with lion's claws and bear ears. They belong to mixanthropic creatures, such as other natural deities.

According to various sources, there are two, three or five predatory half-women-half birds. Hesiod describes two monstrous sisters: Aello and Okipetu... Hygin calls them Kelena, Okipeta and Gift... Sometimes - Aellopod, Keleno, and Okipeta... The most common is their description as three sisters. - Aello or Allop (Whirlwind or Vortex), Okipets (Swift) and Kelaino or Keleno (Gloomy)... Kelaino is also nicknamed Podargoy, that is, the Swiftfoot.

Keleno and Okipeta in a number of sources are the daughters of Electra and Favmanth. Keleno knew how to prophesy, and Hesiod mentioned Okipeta in his Theogony. According to one version, Keleno had a connection with the south wind, Zephyr, from which she gave birth to Xanthus and Balia, talking horses.

Aello, Aellopoda or Nikotonoya is the last of the sisters. It is known for certain about her death: when the Argonauts were chasing her, Aello threw herself into the river and died. In honor of this event, the river was renamed Garpis.

Their early habitat is the Strofad Islands in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Later - the gates of Tartarus in the abyss of Hades. Another legend claims that the harpies expelled by the Argonauts moved to Africa, but more on that below.

Harpies in the legends of ancient Greece

Harpies acted as executors of the punishment of the gods. So, Zeus was angry at Salmides king Phineus who had the gift. The Thunderer sent winged monsters to Phineas. Those, as soon as the tsar got ready for a meal, flew into the palace, grabbing everything that came to hand from the tables.

Phineas and Harpies

The stench of the monsters was so strong that all food was poisoned by them. The king was deprived of the opportunity to eat normally, and his palace was saturated with a stench. Only Calaid and Zeta, Phineus' kin, managed to expel the creatures.

The further fate of the harpies is not known for certain. Some authors argued that after the exile they died, others - that the sister of Zeus, the goddess of the rainbow Iris, interceded for the winged monsters. Hesiod, Antimachus and Apollonius wrote: the harpies found refuge on the Cretan mountain Dikt. Akusilai insisted that the harpies became the guardians of Hera's golden apples, Epimenides equated them with the Hesperides.

Harpies in Africa

Much later, Robert Howard wrote the book Wings in the Night, where he offered his own interpretation of the fate of the harpies. After they were driven out by the Argonauts, the monsters left their homes and reached Africa on their powerful wings. In Africa, the aborigines began to call them "Akaana".

According to voodoo legends, at the very dawn of human existence, many such creatures lived on the shores of a salt lake that lies far north of the West Coast. When a powerful leader was angry at them, a bloody war broke out between the monsters and people. Many beasts died from arrows and stones, and those who survived tore off their usual perches and rushed away to the southern lands. They fled from the wrath of N'Yasunna, who had once arrived in a huge canoe, where hundreds of soldiers were rowing.

Quite possibly, it was Jason and his comrades on the Argo, traveling on the “great salt lake” - the Mediterranean Sea. Jason could not only defeat the harpies and drive them to the Strophadic archipelago, but also hunt them all the way to Africa. The natives were so impressed by the meeting with the big ship that they made up legends about it. In African mythology, the image of the harpies could merge with the image of the loa spirits and become one of the countless number.

Harpies - Medieval and Heraldry

Scientists-theologians of the Middle Ages saw in harpies a symbol of base passions - greed, gluttony, uncleanliness, often confusing (or deliberately combining) them with furies. According to Christian interpretations, merchants, especially unclean ones, were the coveted prey of the harpies. Fifteenth century panel series belonging to the Peru Giovanna Bellini, illustrated the seven deadly sins. Among them is a harpy sitting on two golden balls, like an allegory of greed. The golden balls are the golden apples of the Hesperides guarded by her.

Virgil in « Divine Comedy»Dante harpies have been described as the most terrible monsters, spawned by the great wrath of a god. They came from hellish abysses, have the beautiful faces of young maidens, but always experience insatiable hunger, and with their claws they easily tear people apart. Sinners are tormented in the Underworld.

John Guillim compiled a heraldic description of these creatures. According to him, harpies are depicted as azure creatures with spread wings. Their hair is loose, fluttering in the wind. Sometimes they are wearing armor.

In the cultures of many peoples, there is a mention of an unusual creature - a bird with a female head. One of the most common names for this creature is harpy.

Harpy-like creatures are found in many mythologies.

Characteristics

Harpies are mythological creatures, the first mention of which is found in ancient Greek annals and myths dating from the 8th-7th centuries. BC NS.

A characteristic feature is their appearance - a bird's body with a female head. Translated from the Greek language, their name can be translated as abductors or predators, which very clearly reflects the essence of these monsters.

History of appearance

There are several different theories about the origin of harpies:

Creatures came from
They are the daughters of Boreus from one sea nymph.
They are the offspring of Typhon and Echidna.

In the first case, the legend says that Elektra and Tavmant had 5 daughters. They possessed incredible beauty, but their character was very nasty. And as punishment for their vanity and pride, Zeus cursed them, turning them into terrible monsters.

In the second case, the lord of the northern stormy wind Boreas, flying over the Aegean Sea, noticed a sea nymph on the rocks. Falling in love with her at first sight, he invited her to become his wife. But the sea maiden did not want to associate her fate with Boreas. Angry at the refusal, he cursed her. From now on, all the daughters of the nymph will be born as terrible monsters.

In the third version, the harpies, like the rest of the mythical monsters, were the offspring of the hundred-headed serpent Typhon and Echidna. Subsequently, while performing his twelve labors, Hercules overpowered most of these creatures that threatened people.

The most famous harpies

Representatives of this species include:

Celaino is gloomy. Together with her sister, Aello attacked King Phineus, until the Argonauts drove them away.
The Okipeta is impetuous. Together with Aellopod, she was pursued by the Boreads, but unlike her sister, she was able to safely escape.
Aellopod is a vortex. Persecuted by the companions of Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War, she tried to get to the Echinad Islands, but could not and fell into the Tigris River in the Peloponnese. From that time on, the river was renamed Garpis.
Podarga is quick-footed. From the lord of the soft spring wind, Zephyr gave birth to two talking horses - Balia and Xanthus, which were later presented to Achilles.
Aella is a hurricane. Participated in the attack on King Phineus.

Various historians also mention other harpies, which in whole flocks attacked travelers, but their names are not specified.

Appearance

Harpies in the mythology of any culture have a number of common features:

It is always a hybrid of a girl and a bird.
Instead of arms, they have wings, and instead of legs, they have paws with sharp claws.
The body is human up to the waist. Serves them as a reminder of who they were once.
Facial tint is always painfully pale.
Their scream deafens and disorients a person.

During the Middle Ages, their appearance was romanticized. From ugly monsters they became beautiful long-haired maidens. The unbearable stench and dirt that the harpies left behind were gone.

In the Middle Ages, a tradition arose to portray harpies in the form of beautiful girls.

Capabilities

There is a theory that the original harpies were wind goddesses who accompanied the souls of the dead to the kingdom of Hades. They were considered the culprit of hurricanes, storms and storms. However, in most cases in myths they are referred to as bloodthirsty kidnappers who attacked unsuspecting travelers. They were also often credited with stealing children.

They later became Zeus's assistants. The Thunderer sent harpies to the people who angered him, and with their help he punished the unwanted. Monsters took food from the unfortunate, condemning them to death from hunger.

There is a myth about King Phinea. He lost his sight, but gained the gift of foreseeing the future and somehow saw the designs of the Gods. The enraged lord of Olympus sent Aella and Kelaina to him. Every time the king tried to eat, they broke into the palace and devoured the cooked food. And everything that they could not eat was saturated with a terrible smell and immediately rotted. The king was rescued by the passing Argonauts Calaid and Zet.

References in other cultures

The image of a mythical creature with the body of a bird and the face of a woman is found not only in Greek culture.

Medieval Europe

On the territory of Europe, the image of a harpy was used to describe insatiability, greed, greed. So they could call an unscrupulous person, mainly a woman obsessed with the material component of life.

According to the legends of those years, it was believed that if a person is stingy or a merchant deceives his customers, then they will be pursued by harpies. The same applied to those who take bribes or trade in government officials.

From that time on, the harpies were no longer portrayed as ugly old women, but they retained their original characters.

In creativity

The image of harpies has found its place in medieval literature as well. In the work of Dante Alighieri, they are assigned the seventh circle of Hell, where they torture the souls of those who committed suicide. With birds of prey, they attack talking plants, picking off flowers and leaves from them, preventing them from blooming again.

These monsters can also be found in the painting by the artist François Perrier. On his canvas, Aeneas and his companions are depicted, who are leaving Troy, fighting in parallel from a flock of angry harpies.

The painter Giovanni Bellini portrayed them as one of the seven deadly sins, namely, greed. On his panel, the harpy looks like a large bird with huge pointed claws on its paws and the face of a young, beautiful girl. She stands on the golden apples of the Hesperides. But, despite the beauty of his face, his features are distorted with anger and a thirst for more than she already has.

Aeneas' battle with the harpies, Francois Perrier

Heraldry

The image of harpies on the coats of arms of cities and countries was common in the Middle Ages. Such a symbol bore the meaning of ferocity when its owner was provoked into conflict.

The image of harpies in heraldry was found:

near the city of Emden, Lower Saxony;
near the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria;
coat of arms of the East Frisian family of Kirksen, representing the county of Rietberg, Liechtenstein;
near the city of Delfzijl, north of the Netherlands.

Japanese mythology

There is a creature similar to a harpy and

Itsumade is a chimerical bird with a human face. She appears in places where hard times have come, or over places of battles. With her loud cry, she invites the souls of the dead to her and takes them to another world, to eternal rest.

And also encourages descendants not to forget about their ancestors and honor the memory of them.

The Itsumade have a similar appearance to the harpies and perform similar functions, but they are devoid of malice and greed.

Chimerical bird Itsumade

Hinduism

In ancient Indian mythology, there is a mention of a creature that looks like a harpy. His name is Garuda. It has a human head, chest, torso and knee-deep legs, but at the same time it has eagle wings and clawed legs. This creature serves as a riding bird of the god Vishnu, and also helps him fight snakes in the hearts of people.

With the harpies, Garuda has a similar appearance, but is completely different from them in character.

Slavic mythology

Slavic legends also tell about different creatures. Harpies, or rather creatures similar to them, were no exception. All of them have the characteristic appearance of romanticized monsters: the body of a bird and the head of a beautiful girl.

IN Slavic mythology highlight such

Bird Gamayun.
Sirin.
Alkonost.
Stratim bird.

Prophetic bird and messenger of the gods. According to legends, a person who heard her cry is blessed by the gods and will be happy all his life. Gamayun is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. She has answers to all questions, so in case of an unsolvable problem, the Slavs carried gifts to her sanctuary and asked for advice.

She was born with the world and was assigned to people as a reminder of the need for spiritual development and maintenance of the inviolable principles of being.

Prophetic bird Gamayun

Sirin

This creature is a representative of the dark forces of Slavic mythology. This chimera possessed a bewitching voice and with its help lured people with a weak will into the water, where they died.

It was believed that it was possible to escape from her song. If you start singing yourself, the bird listened with interest to the unfamiliar melody and fell silent. In this case, it was necessary to tie yourself to a tree with a rope in order not to allow you to take possession of your body.

Alkonost

A mythical bird, with the face of a sad girl. She appeared on the battlefield and with her song mourned the dead. For people, it does not pose any danger; rather, on the contrary, it calms the rushing souls.

In legends it is also represented as a guide of souls to Iriy.

Stratim

The mysterious Stratim-bird (Straphil-bird) is considered the progenitor of all existing birds. She lives on the sea and shelters half of the world under her wing. It personifies the most terrible natural disasters associated with water and wind: from whirlpools and floods to storms and storms.

The existence of harpies in the modern world

In the modern world, the image of harpies has also found its place. They are often characters in films and books, they can be found in computer games.

A real live harpy, a species of birds of prey of the hawk family, should be singled out separately. The South American harpy is the only representative of its kind.

External characteristic:

The body length is on average 100 cm.
The wingspan is about 2 m.
Pronounced sexual dimorphism is observed: the female weighs 6-8 kg, which is 2 times the weight of the male.
The color of the plumage is dark gray, less saturated on the head and belly.
There is a feathery crest on the head.
The paws are powerful with long black nails.

The Harpy is a forest eagle that nests and hunts in the forests of Central and South America.

They hunt mainly monkeys, possums and parrots. Also, cats, piglets and lambs are often stolen from villages.

Thanks to such habits, as well as appearance and got their nickname from mythical creatures - harpies.

Who are the harpies? These are mythological creatures invented by the ancient Greeks. They found their continuation in ancient Roman mythology. People represented them in the form of wild and cruel monsters with female faces and bodies, wings and paws, crowned with long sharp claws. These monsters abducted children and human souls. They were originally considered the spirits of the wind. They attacked suddenly and quickly disappeared, carrying grief, fear and despair.

Where did they come from on earth? According to one version, they were the daughters of the underwater giant Tavmant and his wife, the nymph Electra. This pair gave birth to two harpies - Aello and Okipeta.

According to another version, they are considered the daughters of the powerful giant Typhon. He was the personification of the fiery forces of the earth. Not only harpies, but also many other mythological monsters went from this terrible creature: the two-headed dog Orff, the three-headed dog Cerberus, the Lernaean hydra, the Colchis dragon, etc.

Creepy female monsters were also considered the daughters of Boreas. This is a stormy north wind. They portrayed him as a winged, long-haired, bearded deity. According to mythology, he was a relative of the Athenians, and his abode was in Thrace.

Usually ugly creatures in female form were depicted as three sisters. Their names were Aellop, Okipeta and Kelaino. Their place of residence was the Strofad Islands in the Aegean Sea. But Virgil (the poet of Ancient Rome) claimed that terrible monsters lived in the kingdom of the dead or Hades.

Mythology

Zeus gave Phineus, the king of Thrace, the gift of prophecy. But he began to tell people their future. For this, the angry god blinded the king and sent him to an uninhabited island, supplying him with food in abundance. But as soon as the king sat down to eat, the harpies appeared. These beasts grabbed food, and what was left on the table, they fouled. Therefore, the poor man could not eat, and he was starving all the time.

This continued until the Argonauts (navigators) Zeta and Calaid appeared on the island. They entered into a fight with disgusting creatures, but did not kill them, but only frightened and chased them away. After that, the poor king had his fill, and in gratitude told the astronauts how to overcome the Symplegades. These are floating rocks. When the ship appeared near them, they collided and destroyed the ship.

The female monsters were extremely vicious and cruel. Their task was to punish people who were guilty before the formidable gods. The unfortunate people were kidnapped and dragged to Tartarus. This is a terrible abyss located under the kingdom of Hades. Kronos, the titans, and also the cyclops were imprisoned in it.

Harpies were used in their myths by the ancient Romans, and then creepy creatures migrated to the Middle Ages. Dante placed them in the seventh circle of Hell. In it, female monsters mocked suicides. They were depicted as fat birds with female faces and wide wings. They sat in the trees and uttered melancholy cries.

In the Middle Ages, effeminate monsters were used in heraldry. And one of the heroes of Shakespeare in the work "Much Ado About Nothing" called Beatrice so sharp-tongued. Nowadays, this term is often used figuratively. It is customary to call them unpleasant and grumpy women.

Valery Krapivin