In Greek mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse, springs from the blood of Medusa after her death. His origin is central to his meaning: the possibility that beauty and inspiration can arise from suffering, from the places we dare not look.

Pegasus has long symbolized poetic inspiration, freedom, divine ascent, and the crossing between worlds. Unlike an ordinary horse, he belongs both to the earth and the heavens. His wings transform him from a creature of strength and labor into one of imagination and spirit. In the ancient world, horses already carried associations with nobility, vitality, and power. Pegasus elevates those qualities into something almost sacred.

One of the most enduring myths surrounding Pegasus is the spring of Hippocrene on Mount Helicon. According to legend, Pegasus struck the mountain with his hoof, and a sacred spring burst forth from the stone. The waters became associated with the Muses and with poetic inspiration itself. Because of this, Pegasus became an emblem of inspired creation. Renaissance poets and painters often used Pegasus as a symbol of the artistic imagination.