Harpy
Image by Gustav
Dore
Inferno :
Canto XIII : Harpies in the Forest of the Suicides
The Harpy has the upper torso of a hideous
old hag, this image, combined with the wings, body and legs of a vulture is
enough to put fear into the most steadfast of hearts. She has dirt encrusted
talons at the end of her fingers and on her vulture feet, her hair is matted
and filthy. Virgil describes the Harpies as suffering from constant diarrhea
which adds to their already overpowering stench which can be smelled before
their arrival and long after their departure. This stench is so strong that
those who encounter it often suffer from nausea and so are less able to defend
themselves. While their victims are retching the Harpies rip at the flesh with
their filthy, sharp talons leaving great wounds which, if not immediately fatal,
often become infected and poisonous.
Harpies scavenge for food in flocks of 20 or 30. The Greeks believed that the Harpies' ravenous hunger was due to a curse of the gods which condemned them to starve for eternity.
Dante credited the Harpies as being the guardians and tormentors of the souls of those who had committed suicide. Homer believed that they were like winds that carried the spirits of the dead to Hades. In the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, King Phineas has his city infested by a flock of Harpies who stole food and spread disease. Jason and his men managed to defeat the hags and restore the city. Earlier myths mentioned only 4 Harpies, wind spirits who were the children of Typhon and Echidna. Their names were Aello (rain-squall), Celaeno (storm-dark), Okypete (swift-flying), and Podarge (swift-foot).
Harpy like creatures have appeared around the world like the soul-birds of ancient Egypt (extinct c.340 BCE), the Islamic 'murgh-i-adami', the Maori 'kura ngaituku', the Australian 'bagini', they Greek 'Erinyes' (Furies) and maybe even the Norse Valkyries.
Includes information found in The Cryptozoological Society of London's 'A Natural History of the Unnatural World'
