4. There are very few conjectures so happy as that of Le
Clerc (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. i. p.148), who
supposes that the harpies were only locusts. The Syriac or
Phoenician name of those insects, their noisy flight, the
stench and devastation which they occasion, and the north
wind which drives them into the sea, all contribute to form
the striking resemblance.