![]() Instead, he sent him to his father-in-law, King Iobates, who devised a clever way to get rid of the young offender. King Proteus was outraged, but knowing that immortal blood ran in Bellerophon’s veins, he was afraid to punish the boy. She begged him to become her lover, and when he refused, she accused him of raping her. Unfortunately, Proteus’s wife also saw potential in Bellerophon. Proteus saw huge potential in the boy, and he decided to pardon his crime. When he was young, he committed a crime and was sent to King Proteus to be punished. ![]() Battle with Bellerophonįor years, the Chimera roamed the Lynean countryside unchallenged, since “not even a quantity of men could subdue it with ease, let alone one.” But her legend didn’t take the hero Bellerophon into account.īellerophon was a son of Poseidon and a beautiful mortal woman. Together, Typhon and Echidna spawned many of the most dangerous beasts in Greece, including the Lynean Hydra, the Sphinx, the Nemean Lion, Cerberus, and, of course, the Chimera. For a mate, he took the next most monstrous creature in Greece, a half-woman, half-serpent named Echidna. Typhon, the father, was an ancient and monstrous giant who was believed to be the most dangerous creature in all of Greece. The Chimera was one of the offspring of a legendary pairing: Typhon and Echidna. She often appeared before natural disasters, mostly volcanic eruptions. The Chimera was also seen as an omen, of sorts. The fire spewed out from the goat’s head and devastated any challengers who approached the beast. But this monster’s most unusual and deadly weapon, by far, was her ability to breathe fire. The Chimera was reputed to be “near invincible,” for she had the strength of a lion, the cunning of a goat, and the venom of a snake. She ransacked many villages, mostly killing cattle but sometimes destroying houses and slaughtering innocent people as well. She had a terrible temper and no civilized instincts. Like most chimeric creatures in Greek mythology, the Chimera was a nasty piece of work. ![]() Finally, the monster’s lion tail morphs into a snake, with a venomous serpentine head replacing the lion’s natural puff of fur. The goat’s head appears to be male, since it has horns and a beard. The creature also has a goat’s head, rising from between its shoulder blades. ![]() Exaggerated ears and breasts show that the creature is female, even though it does have a short, ragged mane.īut of course, there’s more to the Chimera than its lion features. It has a lion’s body, complete from head to tail. Seeing Chimera would be interpreted as a sign of natural disasters like storms to happen, volcano eruptions in particular.The Chimera may be ancient Greece’s most bizarre creature-so bizarre that its name is now used to describe any creature with an unusual combination of animal traits.Īt its most basic level, the Chimera is a female lion. In the other version of the myth, it is stated that Bellerophon killed Chimera by thrusting a lance with lead on its tip into her throat which, later, melted and caused the beast to suffocate. In some myths it is told that Bellerophon killed the three-headed monster by shooting it with arrows from above flying on Pegasus. Sent by King Iobates of Lycia for this impossible mission, Greek hero Bellerophon killed this mythical creature with the help of Pegasus. According to the myth she laid waste on the land of Lycia killing cattle and creating fires all around. She is also told to be the mother of Sphinx and the Nemean Lion in some myths.īoth Homer in his work Illiad and Hesiod in Theogony mentioned Chimera as a creature breathing fire. It is considered that the myth regarding Chimera originated from Yanartaş (which means “the burning rock” in Turkish language ) in Turkey where there are vents releasing burning methane gasĪs she was mostly referred to as a female creature it is safe to say Chimera is the “daughter” of Typhon and Echidna which makes the Lernean Hydra, Ladon and Cerberus her siblings. According to the belief, she lived in Lycia (Likya in modern Turkey) in Anatolia. Chimera (Chimaera or Khimaira) is a mythical creature which is believed to be formed of three different animals a lioness, a goat and a snake.Ĭhimera’s head was that of a lioness while she had a goat’s head on her back and a snake’s head at the tip of her tail.
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