On the 'harpy' topic that was discussed a few days ago, no-one mentioned that these figures derive from mythology. FWIW, a harpy is a bird-like creature, having the head of a woman, and the body and wings of a vulture, with terribly sharp claws on both hands and feet. The harpies are the offspring of Neptune and Terra. As with most mythological bints, there're three of 'em [as in Fates, Gorgons etc]. According to _Lempriere's Classical Dictionary_ they appear in Virgil's _Aenid_, and are described as 'emit[ting] an infectious smell, and spoiled whatever they touched by their filth and excrements. They plundered Aeneas during his voyage towards Italy, and predicted many of the calamaties which attended him.' Thomas Bullfinch retells the story (find it on the net at Project Gutenberg or such like). Interestingly, for those interested in the derivation of words, my Collins dictionary defines harpy as 'a cruel grasping woman' --- no mention of sluttishness, or prostitution, but hey, we can extrapolate ;-)--- and suggests that the term derives from the Greek harpazein, meaning seize or _snatch_ . Eddie Duggan ---------------------------- Compuserve: no sig facility ---------------------------- - # RARA-AVIS: To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" # to majordomo@icomm.ca