Bellerophon and the Chimera

The Story

Bellerophon was a renowned hero associated with Corinth and Lycia.

After becoming involved in a serious offence, he came to the court of King Proetus.

There the king's wife became attracted to Bellerophon. When he rejected her, she accused him of improper behaviour.

Proetus did not kill his guest directly because of the sacred obligations surrounding hospitality.

Instead, he sent Bellerophon to his father-in-law, the Lycian king Iobates, carrying a sealed message requesting that the bearer be killed.

Iobates also hesitated to murder a guest.

He therefore assigned Bellerophon a task he believed would prove fatal.

The hero was ordered to kill the Chimera.

The Chimera was a terrifying hybrid creature usually described with the parts of a lion, goat and serpent and capable of breathing fire.

Bellerophon's great advantage was Pegasus, the winged horse.

Riding above the monster's reach, he attacked from the air.

One famous later version describes Bellerophon placing lead on the end of his spear. When he drove the weapon toward the Chimera's fiery breath, the lead melted and destroyed the monster from within.

But killing the Chimera did not immediately end Bellerophon's trials.

Iobates continued sending him against dangerous enemies, and the hero repeatedly survived.

Eventually the king recognised that Bellerophon must have divine favour and stopped trying to destroy him.

Bellerophon received honour and married into the royal family.

Yet his later story became a warning about ambition.

After extraordinary success, Bellerophon attempted to fly Pegasus toward Olympus itself.

The attempt failed.

He fell back to earth and lived the remainder of his life separated from the glory he had once possessed.