Aello

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title: "Aello" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["harpies", "monsters-in-greek-mythology"] description: "One of the Harpy sisters in Greek mythology" topic_path: "general/harpies" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aello" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary One of the Harpy sisters in Greek mythology ::

In Greek mythology, Aello (; , Aellō means "storm" or "storm-swift" in ancient Greek) was one of the Harpy sisters who would abduct people and torture them on their way to Tartarus.

Other names

Aello was also referred to as:

• Aellopus (; Ἀελλόπους, Aellopous, "whirlwind-footed")
• Aellope (; Αελλώπη, Aellōpē)
• Podarge (; Ποδάργη, Podargē, "she who is foot-speedy")
• Podarce (; Ποδάρκη, Podarkē, "she who is foot-safe"?)
• Nicothoë (; Νικοθόη, Nikothoē, "she who is victory-speedy")

Family

As one of the Harpies, Aello was the daughter of the sea god Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra (also called Ozomene). Her harpy-sisters were Ocypete and Celaeno, whereas other mentioned siblings were Iris, and possibly Arke and Hydaspes. In other accounts, Harpies were called the progeny of Typhoeus, father of these monsters, or of Pontus (Sea) and Gaea (Earth) or of Poseidon, god of the sea.

Aello was claimed to be the mother of Achilles's immortal steeds Balius and Xanthus by Zephyrus but some sources claimed it was really her sister Celaeno. ::data[format=table]

Homer's Iliad	Quintus' Posthomerica
"Xanthus and Balius, that flew swift as the winds,	"From wretched men, over the Ocean's streams,
::

Mythology

According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Aello was the harpy who was encountered by Aeneas' company in their wanderings after the fall of Troy:"Wintry seas then tossed the heroic band, and in a treacherous harbor of those isles, called Strophades, Aello frightened them."

Namesake

Aello was also the name of one of Actaeon's dogs who destroyed their master when he was changed into a stag by the goddess of hunt, Artemis.

Notes

References

• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Bell, Robert E., Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-Clio. 1991. .
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com.
• Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863–1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940–1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy translated by Way. A. S. Loeb Classical Library Volume 19. London: William Heinemann, 1913. Online version at Topos Text Project.
• Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy. Arthur S. Way. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Scholia to Lycophron's Alexandra, marginal notes by Isaak and Ioannis Tzetzes and others from the Greek edition of Eduard Scheer (Weidmann 1881). Online version at the Topos Text Project.. Greek text available on Archive.org

References

1. Bell, Robert E.. (1991). "Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary". ABC-CLIO.
2. Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.3 14.3]
3. [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+16.112&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Podarge 16.150]
4. Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#p.35 Preface]
5. Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.21&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Nicothoe 1.9.21]
6. Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#165 167]
7. Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.3 14]
8. [[Ptolemy Hephaestion]], ''New History'' 6; [[Photios I of Constantinople
9. [[Nonnus]], [https://topostext.org/work/529#26.351 26.351ff.]
10. [[Valerius Flaccus (poet). Valerius Flaccus]], 4.425
11. [[Maurus Servius Honoratus. Servius]], Commentary on Virgil's ''Aeneid'' [https://topostext.org/work/548#3.241 3.241]
12. Homer, ''Iliad'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+16.112&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Podarge 16.149-151] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+19.400&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Podarge 19.400]; [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], [https://topostext.org/work/863#3.631 3.748-751]
13. Quintus Smyrnaeus, [https://topostext.org/work/863#3.631 3.748-751]
14. [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Met.+13.705&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Aello 13.709-710]
15. Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 3.219; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#181 181]

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