The Stymphalian birds are vicious flesh-eating birds in Greek mythology. They're believed to originate from the swamps of Stymphalia in Arcadia, pastoral home of Pan. They appear on Greek coins. Their feathers are metal weapons and they're sacred to Ares, god of war.
Arcadia is an inland province on the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It's said to be the demesne of Pan, Poseidon as Horse God and the Greek mystery cult of Despoina. A watershed plain, Stymphalia or Stymphalus is about six miles (9.7 km) long.
It's surrounded by mountains, making it sheltered and fertile, with favorable climate, mineral runoff and nutrient rich silt. As a lowland basin it's susceptible to flooding, as below. To the north is Mt. Kyllini, also called the Cyllene or Ziria. The village of Stymphalia is at its base.
The mountain is suggested as the mythical ‘rock of Scylla’, from which Mount Stymphalus forms a spur and descends to the plain. Mt. Stymphalus is the second highest peak on the Peloponnese, associated with the God Hermes.
Hera conscripts Ares to create the birds specifically to kill Heracles. The Stymphalian birds have beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they shoot at their victims, and poisonous dung. They live in the Stymphalian swamplands, where they fled to escape wolves.
Once there, the Stymphalian Birds breed prolifically. They invade farms and fields of the countryside, destroying crops, fruit trees, and eating townspeople. The Birds are sacred to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and Ares, god of war.
According to Greek traveler Pausanias these mighty birds
"... fly against those who come to hunt them, wounding and killing them with their beaks. All armor of bronze or iron that men wear is pierced by the birds; but if they weave a garment of thick cork, the beaks of the Stymphalian birds are caught in the cork garment, just as the wings of small birds stick in bird-lime. These birds are of the size of a crane, and are like the ibis, but their beaks are more powerful, and not crooked like that of the ibis."
Their destructive nature overcomes the people and the Greek hero Heracles sets out to kill them in the 6th of 12 tasks he must undertake for King Eurystheus of Mycenae. He's armed with a bow and arrow and/or a sling.
The reason Heracles is in the King's service is because he murders his wife, Theban princess Megara, and all their children when Hera afflicts him with madness. Apollo tells Heracles to serve the King as punishment for his crime.
Hera loathes Heracles because he's a descendent of Io, whom Zeus impregnates in the form of a white cloud. Hera turns Io into a white cow. The Strait of Bosporus, meaning "cattle crossing" is named for Io and her journey.
Heracles goes to the Stymphalian marshlands, where the birds live. From the safety of their nests they hurl feathers like darts of poison. Heracles can't get closer to the birds because the marsh won't bear his weight, and so his slings and arrows are useless.
Athena, goddess of war, decides to help Heracles. She has the divine smith Hephaestus make an instrument called krotala or krotalon for the hero. In classical antiquity, the krotalon is a clapper or set of castanets used in religious dance in Greece and elsewhere.
Heracles climbs up the mountain overhanging the marshes, and vigorously shakes and claps the krotala. The noise frightens the birds and they fly up from their nests. Heracles kills many of them with arrows dipped in the poison of the Hydra.
According to Greek philosopher Mnaseas (4th century BCE) the creatures Heracles kills in the Arcadian swamps are not birds, but women and daughters of Stymphalus and Ornis. Heracles kills them because they do not receive him hospitably.
In the temple of the Stymphalian Artemis they're shown as birds, and behind the temple in antiquity are white marble statues of maidens with birds' feet. Later artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Gustave Moreau portray the birds with harpy-like female heads and breasts.
The remaining birds escape to the Euxine Sea (Black Sea). They take refuge on the Isle of Aretias, the Island of Ares, identified as Giresun Island. It's the largest island on the Turkish Black Sea Coast, today occupied by gulls and great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo).
Named for the Greek war god, the island is also considered a religious site of the legendary Amazons. Partial archaeological excavations find ancient ruins. In the epic Argonautica, set in c. 1300 BCE, the warrior women are in the area and Jason is afraid to fight them.
The Stymphalian Birds adapt well to island life. They're left in peace. The only sea route into the Black Sea is the Bosporus Strait, and it's guarded by massive floating boulders, the Symlpegades, which clash together to crush anyone trying to pass through.
Jason and the Argonauts change all that. To pass safely, on the advice of a blind prophet Jason releases a dove. He thinks the bird will be crushed and the Argonauts can sail bravely through the channel as the boulders pull apart again.
The prophet further says to him,
" .... ye must beach your ship upon a smooth island, when ye have driven away with all manner of skill the ravening birds, which in countless numbers haunt the desert island. In it the Queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a stone temple of Ares ... "
They send the dove through the passage. She barely makes it with loss of tail feathers, and no doubt complains about the incident to the Stymphalian Birds on the island of Ares. When the birds see Jason and the Argonauts they launch a lethal attack.
As birds of Ares the Stymphalian Birds cannot be killed here. They're under his protection on the island bearing his name. Their onslaught is ferocious. Jason fears all is lost. Then, one of the heroes remembers the adventures of Heracles, who earlier departed from the group.
He tells the warriors to make noise. The Argonauts bang their shields and shout, making so much commotion the birds retreat. Zeus sends a favorable wind so the Argonauts don't have to fight Amazons. They continue on to Colchis in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.
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