Greek harpies
From Srafopedia
In Greek mythology, the Harpies ("snatchers") were mainly winged death-spirits, best known for constantly stealing all food from Phineas in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The literal meaning of the word seems to be "that which grabs" as it comes from the ancient Greek word αÏπάξ arpas, "to grab".
The Harpy could also bring life. A Harpy was the mother by the West Wind Zephyros of the horses of Achilles (Iliad xvi. 160). Though Hesiod (Theogony) calls them two "lovely-haired" creatures, Harpies as beautiful winged bird-women are a late development, in parallel with the transformation of the Siren, a creature malign though seductive in Homer, but gradually softened by the Athenian imagination into a sorrowful death angel. On a vase in the Berlin Museum, a harpy has a small figure of a hero in each claw, but her head is recognizably a Gorgon, with goggling eyes, protruding tongue and fangs.
(Source: Wikipedia)
