Pēgăsus (-os), i, m., = Πήγασος,
I the winged horse of the Muses , who sprang from the blood of Medusa when she was slain , and with a blow of his hoof caused the fountain of the Muses ( Hippocrene ) to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon afterwards caught him at the fountain of Pirene , near Corinth , and , with the aid of his hoofs , destroyed the Chimaera. But when Bellerophon wished to fly on the back of Pegasus to heaven , the latter threw him off and ascended to the skies alone , where he was changed into a constellation , Ov. M. 4, 785; 5, 262 sq.; id. F. 3, 458: ales, Hor. C. 4, 11, 27; Hyg. Fab. 151; id. Astr. 2, 18.—Applied in jest to a swift messenger, Cic. Quint. 25, 80. —Of winged horses in gen., Plin. 8, 21, 30, § 72; cf.: sunt mirae aves cornutae (in Africā) et equinis auribus Pegasi, Mel. 3, 9.— Hence,
1 Pēgăsēïus , a, um, adj., Pegasean , i. e. poetic : melos, Pers. praef. 14. —
2 Pēgăsĕus ( Pēgăsēus , Mart. Cap. 9 fin. ), a, um, adj., of or belonging to Pegasus , Pegasean : volatus, Cat. 55, 24: habenae, Claud. in Ruf. 3, 262: aquae, Hippocrene , id. Epigr. 5, 4.—Pegaseum stagnum, a lake in lonia , Plin. 5, 27, 31, § 115: aetas Pegaseo corripiet gradu, i. e. with rapid step , Sen. Troad. 385.—
3 Pēgăsis , ĭdis, f. adj., of Pegasus : Pegasides undae, the waters of Hippocrene , the fountain of the Muses , Ov. Tr. 3, 7, 15: unda, Mart. 9, 59, 6.—Subst.: Pēgăsĭdes , the Muses , Ov. H. 15, 27; Prop. 3 (4), 1, 19.— Pēgăsis , ĭdis, f., = Πηγή, a fountain-nymph : Pegasis Oenone Phrygiis celeberrima silvis, Ov. H. 5, 3.