On Unbelievable Stories

The myth is handed down that the Harpies [the Snatchers] were women with wings who kept snatching Phineas’ food. Actually, one would assume that these women were courtesans who ravaged Phineas’ household and abandoned him, leaving him without even the food he needed. And whenever he recovered just enough the Harpies would turn up again, lay waste to everything, and depart, as courtesans do.