Pegasus belongs to the largest constellations in the celestial sphere. It is high above the horizon and is best seen at night from August to October.24 Near Pegasus are the constellations Andromeda, Pisces, Aquarius, Little Horse, Dolphin, Chanterelle, Cygnus, and Lizard.
On a clear and moonless night, about a hundred stars are visible in the constellation Pegasus, but only five of them are brighter than the third magnitude.
The three brightest stars in the constellation Pegasus, together with the star a Andromeda, form a large square - a characteristic geometric figure of the constellation Pegasus. Near the western peaks of this square, irregular rows of faint stars are visible, resembling huge tentacles. Nevertheless, a very rich imagination is needed to see in this figure the mythical winged horse Pegasus, as it is depicted on ancient star maps and in star atlases.
Myths
Mythology tells about Perseus and Pegasus not without excitement. The king of Argos, Acrisius, had an only daughter, Danae, who, with her beauty and charm, could only be compared with the immortal goddesses. But the oracle predicted to Acrisius that he would have to die at the hands of his grandson, the son of Danae. To avoid such a fate, Acrisius built a palace of stone and bronze deep underground and imprisoned his daughter in it. No one had access to her, no one could see her. Acrisius did not know that the almighty Zeus was fascinated by his daughter. And although she was hidden underground, Zeus penetrated Danae, turning into a golden rain. Danae gave birth to a son from Zeus, whom she named Perseus.
Perseus grew up in an underground chamber, surrounded by the tireless cares and caresses of his mother. He was a frisky boy, and his cheerful childish laughter carried far away. One day Acrisius heard him. He immediately went down to the underground palace and was horrified to see a little boy. He guessed that this was his grandson - the son of Danae and Zeus. Acrisius remembered the oracle's prediction, but did not dare to kill the son of Zeus. Therefore, he ordered to make a large wooden box with a strong lid, put Danae and little Perseus in it, nailed the lid tightly and ordered the box to be thrown into the sea.
For many days and nights the waves of the boundless sea carried the captives. Storms and hurricanes either lifted the box above the waves, then lowered it into the depths of the sea, until, finally, they threw it on the shore of the island of Serif in the Aegean Sea. There the fisherman Diktis was fishing with a large net. The box became tangled in the net, and Dictis pulled it out of the sea with great difficulty. When Dictys opened the box, he almost fainted with surprise at the sight of a woman, beautiful as a goddess, who held in her arms a playful boy, waving his arms and resounding with his carefree laughter on the seashore.
Dictis took Danae and Perseus to his brother, the king of the island, Polydektus. After Danae told him about her fate, he arranged them in his luxurious palace. There Perseus grew up and turned into a slender and stately young man who, like a bright star, differed from all other young men on the island of Serif. Nobody
could not compare with him in strength, dexterity, courage and the ability to use a bow and a spear.
Fascinated by the beauty of Danae, King Polydectes decided at any cost to force her to become his wife. No matter how afraid Danae was of his wrath, she still refused him. Disappeared since then without concern and laughter Danae. Often Perseus found her in tears.
Realizing the reason why his mother's heart was torn with torment, Perseus went to King Polydectes and warned him not to bother his mother again. The king was angry, but did not dare to say anything to Perseus, because he was afraid of Zeus and did not want to violate the laws of hospitality. However, since then he has been thinking day and night about how to destroy Perseus. Having considered all the ways, he once called Perseus and said to him: “I order you to bring the head of Medusa Gorgon. If you are really the son of the almighty Zeus, you have nothing to fear from dangers, no matter how great they may be. The Great Thunderer will not allow his beloved son to perish. Unaware that King Polydectes was sending him to certain death, Perseus calmly answered him: “I will fulfill your desire and bring you the head of the Gorgon Medusa *.
Gorgons lived far, far away, on the westernmost edge of the Earth, in the realm of the goddess of the Night and the god of death Thanatos, where the rays of Helios never penetrated. Gorgons were terrible monsters. Their bodies were covered with shiny and iron-hard scales that could not be cut by any sword. Instead of hair, snakes curled around their heads, emitting an ominous hiss, and teeth sharp as knives stuck out of their mouths. The faces of the gorgons with bloodshot eyes were so terrifying that anyone who saw them instantly turned into cold stone with fear.
With wings spread wide and golden feathers shining, the gorgons curled in the air, ready to pounce on anyone who fell into their country. With huge copper paws they tore him apart and greedily drank his warm blood.
The assignment of Tsar Polydekt was not easy. Perseus needed to accomplish a feat that was beyond the power of any mortal, but he set off. Will the great Zeus allow his beloved son to perish? Of course not! Zeus immediately sent his daughter to help Perseus - the warlike goddess Athena and the swift, as thought, herald of the gods Hermes. Athena handed Perseus a shiny shield, in which, like a mirror, everything was reflected, and Hermes gave him a sword that could cut even the strongest iron. He explained to Perseus how to get to the country of the Gorgons.
And Perseus went on a long journey. I traveled through many countries, saw different cities and different people, and finally ended up in one gloomy country. There lived three Grays - goddesses of old age. The three of them had only one tooth and one eye, which they used in turn. As long as the eye was on one Graya, only she could see and be a guide to her blind sisters. When she took out an eye to give it to another sister, they all became blind for a while.
Only three Grays knew the way to the country of the Gorgons and guarded the way there. It was difficult to get them to show this way, and Perseus knew about it. When he came to the country where the Grays lived, he saw from a distance in detail how the sisters passed the eye to each other. After that, in the darkness, he quietly approached the three sisters. As soon as one of them took out an eye to give it to her sister, and all three sisters were blind for a moment, Perseus jumped up to them and grabbed the eye. A terrible scream split the eternal darkness. The blind sisters left without an eye showered Perseus with curses and begged the gods to force Perseus to return their eye to them. But Perseus was not afraid of their threats and calmly said to the sisters: “Show me the way to the land of the Gorgons and I will immediately return your eye to you *.
This ransom was hard for the sisters, but it was even more terrible for them to remain forever blind, and they were forced to show Perseus the way to the country of the Gorgons. After that, Perseus returned his eye to them and immediately set off on the road.
Perseus walked for a long time, he overcame many difficulties on his way and finally came to the country of the nymphs. They were very happy about his arrival, but when Perseus told them about the purpose of his journey they were afraid for his fate, as the road to the goal was full of many dangers. They gave him three gifts: the helmet of Hades - the owner of the underworld: the one who put on this helmet became invisible; winged sandals, in which a man could fly through the air, and a magic bag, which could shrink or expand to fit whatever the man wanted to put into it.
Perseus put the bag on his shoulder, put on a helmet and magic sandals, and rushed through the air to the island of the Gorgoy. It flew over the Earth, and under it one marvelous picture replaced another: spacious green plains and meadows flashed by, on which sheep and cows grazed, villages and cities rushed by, in the midst of which white marble temples towered, olive groves turned green and mountain peaks turned blue. The sea appeared, blue and boundless, and only in some places in the middle of the sea, like black dots, could one see the islands. Perseus flew over the sea and looked for the island of the Gorgons. Finally, in the distance, where the sky merges with the expanse of the sea, he noticed another black dot, which grew larger as he approached. This was the Gorgon Island. Perseus went to him and began to circle over the island. Soon he noticed a blindingly bright spot on one rock. He went down lower and saw three sleeping gorgons on the rock: it was their open wings that shone in the rays of the sun. And on the rock, coils of snakes moved lazily - the hair on the heads of the gorgons. Perseus pulled out a sword from its scabbard, took a shield and was already ready to cut off the head of the Gorgon Medusa. But which of the three Gorgons was Gorgon Medusa? After all, there were three sisters here - Steno, Euryale and Medusa, and they all looked alike, like three drops of water.
But of these, only Medusa Gorgon was mortal, while her two sisters were immortal.
Perseus could not be mistaken, he had to kill Medusa Gorgon and disappear in an instant. If he does not have time to do this, the look of any of the gorgons will turn him to stone. Mortal danger hung over Perseus. And at this terrible moment, the god Hermes came to his aid and showed which of the Gorgons was Medusa Gorgon. Like an eagle, Perseus rushed to the sleeping Medusa, but the snakes on her head felt the approach of a man, stirred and began to hiss menacingly. Medusa herself stirred slightly. But before she opened her sinister eyes and turned Perseus to stone, he, looking at her reflection in his shield, cut off her head with one blow of the sword. Without looking at the head, he threw it into the bag and, invisible in his helmet, flew high into the sky. Like a dark river, blood flowed from the body of the Medusa Gorgon, and together with the blood, the winged horse Pegasus appeared from there, which also flew into the heavenly expanses.
The body of Medusa in convulsions and convulsions fell from a cliff into the sea. Huge waves rose and crashed against the rocky shores. The two sisters of Medusa woke up, waved their huge wings and rushed in pursuit of the killer, but they saw nothing: there was not a single living soul anywhere, neither on the island nor in the sea.
Unseen in the helmet of Hades, Perseus moved away from the island of the Gorgons. He had already crossed the sea and was flying over the sands of Libya. From the bag where Medusa's head lay, drops of blood dripped and fell on the sand.
From these drops, poisonous snakes were born, putting all living things to flight. These snakes turned Libya into a desert.
So Perseus reached the western edge of the Earth, where the titan Atlas supported the firmament on his shoulders.
In the vast fields and meadows of the Atlas, herds grazed and bulls roamed. Various fruit trees grew in his gardens, and various juicy fruits could be harvested there throughout the year. But the biggest miracle was the apple tree with branches and leaves made of pure gold, and even the apples on it were golden. The goddess Themis predicted to Atlas that one day the son of Zeus would come to him and steal the golden apples. Therefore, Atlas was very worried about their safety. He fenced off the garden where this apple tree grew with high impregnable walls, and in front of the only entrance he left an evil dragon that never slept and all the time spewed out tongues of fire from its mouth. This fire could reduce to ashes anyone who would risk approaching the dragon.
Arriving in the possessions of Atlas, Perseus told him that he was the son of Zeus, and asked him to shelter him. Atlas, remembering the prediction of Themis, drove him out of his house.
Perseus was angry. He pulled the head of Medusa out of the bag and, trying not to look at her, directed her gaze to Atlas. At the same moment, the titan turned into a mountain. His hair and beard became dense impenetrable forests, his shoulders and arms turned into huge rocks, and his head into a high mountain peak that rose almost to the sky. Since then, Mount Atlas has supported the firmament and all the stars and constellations in it.
And Perseus, in his winged sandals, flew on and looked at the whole Earth from a heavenly height.
Angel Bonov
