Le Poète chevauchant Pégase

---

“Le Poète chevauchant Pégase” (The Poet Riding Pegasus), by Alexandre Falguière, 1897
Square de l'Opéra-Louis-Jouvet
Quartier de la Chaussée-d'Antin, 9th arrondissement
Paris, July 2012

“This amazing sculpture is the work of Alexander Falguière (1831-1900). She is a Poet riding Pegasus. We must examine the Greek mythology to understand what bond unites the poet and the animal. Pegasus is a magical flying horse, as swift as the wind, which was born from the blood of Medusa when it was beheaded by Perseus. Pegasus then joined the gods of Olympus and it was thunder and lightning of Zeus. In Greek, her name means ‘the source’. Indeed, it is supposed to have snapped, striking his hoof on Mount Helicon – home of the Muses – and the Hippocrene drink where poets. Pegasus is the symbol of poetry.” (Patryst)