I've just looked 'harpies' up ... the explanation says,
'In classical mythology, fabulous creatures, possibly wind spirits. In Homer's Odyssey, they were winds that carried people away. Elsewhere, they were sometimes connected with the powers of the underworld.
... These early harpies were in no way disgusting. Later, however, especially in the Argonautic saga (that'll be 'Jason and the Argonauts' to you and me) - they were represented as birds with the faces of women, horribly foul and loathsome. They were sent to punish the Thracian king Phineus for his ill-treatment of his children, but Calais and Zetes, the sons of Boreas, finally delivered him...
Hm, interesting - they were 'horribly foul and loathsome', but I'm on the side of the Harpies if they were sent to punish King Phineus for ill-treating his children!
Yay for the Harpies, I say!