harpy

Ravenous monster[1] in Greco-Roman mythology in the form of a bird with the head and breasts of a human female.[1]

From the Latin harpȳia, meaning "snatcher."[2] In the epic Greek poem, the Argonautica, Zeus had punished King Phineus of Thrace for using a gift of prophecy to reveal secrets of the gods by blinding him and banishing him to an island with sumptuous food. But whenever he went to eat, the harpies would arrive, steal the food, foul the remains, and otherwise pester and torment him.[1]

The term "harpy" has come to be applied to any nagging or tormenting woman, one who constantly makes demands or takes away all a man has, or otherwise "harps" on him.[2]

Stampede: In April of 1877,[3] Madame Pompey was bringing her new crew of female entertainers aboard the Dakota Queen up the Missouri River from St. Louis, bound for Deadwood. Bret Maverick introduced her to Tony Cadiz, but Pompey and Cadiz already knew each other well. Cadiz commented on Pompey's girls as her "new stable of harpies."[4]

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