Pegasus - Etymology

Etymology

The poet Hesiod connects the name Pegasus with the word for "spring, well", pēgē: "the pegai of Okeanos, where he was born."

A proposed etymology of the name is Luwian pihassas, meaning "lightning", and Pihassassi, a local Luwian-Hittite name in southern Cilicia of a weather god represented with thunder and lightning. The proponents of this etymology adduce Pegasus' role, reported as early as Hesiod, as bringer of thunderbolts to Zeus. Fox (2009) criticizes this suggestion, saying that the connection of Pegasus with lightning bolts may be secondary, based on the "like-sounding name" of the Luwian god.

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