 The Harpies are the children of Typhon (a fire breathing giant with 100 serpentine heads) and Echinda (a beautiful woman from the waist up, but a horrible serpent from the waist down). They are the sisters to such creatures as Cerberus, Orthus, Hydra, Chimera and a few other hideous creatures. There are four Harpies in total. They are Aello (rain-squall), Celaeno (storm-dark), Okypete (swift-flying) and Podarge (swift-foot).
Harpies (roughly translating as robbers) were creatures from Greek mythology that had the head of a woman but the body of a bird. In earlier Greek myth, Harpies were described as being beautifull, winged maidens. Later on, however, they were said to be winged monsters with the face of an ugly, old woman with long, crooked brass claws. Although virtually invulnerable, they always looked withered and hungry. Everything that the Harpies touched rotted and smelled of an awful stench.
Originally wind spirits, the Harpies' original role was to carry the souls of the dead to Hades' lair. They often were represented torturing the souls they carried. After a while, Zeus ordered the Harpies to plague Phineus. Phineus was the king of Thrace and a prophet. He angered Zeus by prophesizing too truly (revealing too much information about the gods to the humans) and Zeus blinded him. The Harpies decided to try and starve the wise Phineus. Whenever Phineus sat down to eat, the Harpies would swoop down and steal the food. What little food they left would be foul-smelling and unpalatable. The Harpies were eventually driven out of the king's house by Cailas and Zetes (also known as the Boreads, which are winged hereos). Iris (personified goddess of the rainbow) stopped the Boreads from killing the Harpies by promising they wouldn't bother Phineus again.
Harpies feared only one thing, and that was the sound of a brass instrument.
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