The Ancient Greeks and Romans seem to be fascinated with human/animal hybrids, like the Sphinx, the Centaurs, Sirens and the like. The Harpies are another example of these animal/human amalgams, and like the Sirens, the name is frequently used as a derogatory term for a woman.
What were the Harpies. Bird bodies, women’s faces with supernatural speed and long sharp talons. They were punishers. (One of the most famous of the punished is Phineas. He was cursed with immortality, but normal aging. As soon as he lifted food to his mouth, the Harpies descended and snatched it away. Zeus paused the punishment so Phineas could help Jason acquire the Golden Fleece.)
The Harpies retired to a cave in Crete.
The ancient peoples in Crete, commonly called the Minoans, had rituals involving dances where the women pretended to be birds. The women wore masks and dresses with long flowing sleeves designed to appear as wings.
Like the Minotaur, who I suspect was a man wearing a bull’s mask in some ancient rite, I wonder if the Harpies are the dancing women in their bird masks and fluttering sleeves. The bull, revered in Ancient Crete, became something totally different in the later Greek myths. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dancing maidens evolved into the Harpies.
iFood for thought.