• CHIMERA OVERVIEW
    A monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head.[3] It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of monsters like Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.

    CHIMERA ETYMOLOGY
    Greek khimaira, name of a mythical fire-breathing creature (slain by Bellerophon) with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail, a word that also meant "year-old she-goat" (masc. khimaros), from kheima "winter season," from PIE root *gheim- "winter."

    Supposedly a personification of snow or winter, but the connection to winter might be no more than the ancient habit of reckoning years as "winters." It was held by the ancients to represent a volcano; perhaps it was a symbol of "winter storms" (another sense of Greek kheima) and generally of destructive natural forces. The word was used generically for "any grotesque monster formed from parts of other animals;" hence the figurative meaning "wild fantasy" first recorded 1580s in English.


    PEGASUS OVERVIEW
    Usually seen as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and his mother was the Gorgon, Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born when their mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets wrote about his ascent to heaven after his birth and his obedience to Zeus, who instructed him to bring lightning and thunder from Olympus. 

    PEGASUS ETYMOLOGY
    Pegasus as derived from pege, which means 'spring or well', referring to "the pegai of Okeanos, where he was born." Another proposed etymology of the name is Luwian pihassas 'lightning.' According to early myths, everywhere the winged horse struck his hoof to the earth, an inspiring water spring burst forth.

    CHIMERA, PEGASUS AND BELLEROPHON
    The hero Bellerophon, had been rumoured to have an affair with Anteia, but Bellerophon, being a good guest and not wishing to dishonour his host, would not encourage her. He broke off all contact suddenly and would have no further contact with her. King Proetus became outraged with the hero following accusations made by his wife. Equally enraged at having been spurned, Anteia turned to her husband, King Proetus, telling him that their guest had dishonored her and deserved to die.

    The King, however, was unwilling to kill Bellerophon, so he sent him to the King of Lycia in Asia, secretly requesting that he kill Bellerophon. The King of Lycia was just as hesitant, for Bellerophon had been his guest for over a week and Zeus looked poorly on those who broke the sacred bond between guest and host.

    In the kingdom lived the chimera, which no one was able to kill, and thus the King of Lycia sent Bellerophon on a mission to kill the beast, knowing full well that he would perish in the act.

    The king even gave our hero a tablet to be delivered to Isoabates which was inscribed with instructions to do away with Bellerophon at any opportunity. The precise wording of this poison pen letter was: Pray remove the bearer from this world; he has tried to violate my wife, your daughter.

    Iobates first welcomed his guest with all due honours, arranging a round of feasts that lasted nine days. Then the king asked to see the tablet from his son-in-law. After reading the dastardly instructions scratched into the wax, Iobates set our hero the impossibly dangerous task of killing the Chimera - a fantastic fire-breathing creature which had a lion's body, a snake as a tail, and a goat's head protruding from its back.

    This bizarre concoction of creatures was considered the offspring of Typhon, the monster with 100 fire-breathing heads which made all the sounds of the animal kingdom, and Echidna, the half-snake, half-woman monster who also gave birth to Cerberus, the three-headed hound that guarded the gates of Hades. In alternative versions, notably in Homer's Iliad, the Chimera was reared by Amisodarus. Bellerophon was able to use his winged horse Pegasus and he thus managed to fly above the Chimera, repeatedly firing arrows into the back of the monster with his bow. The weakened Chimera was finally killed when Bellerophon attached a lump of lead to the end of his spear and thrust this into the monster's mouth. The flaming breath of the creature melted the lead which then poured down its throat and solidified in its vital organs.

    To return to the mythology, when Bellerophon returned triumphantly to Iobates, he was promptly told to go off and fight the fearsome Solymoi (aka Solymi), an infamously warlike people. Once again, Pegasus allowed the hero to fly above his enemy and this time he dropped large boulders on to them. Again, Bellerophon returned in triumph but again Iobates set him a seemingly impossible task, this time to fight the Amazons, the legendary fighting women who lived on the shores of the Black Sea. Naturally, the Greek hero, still riding Pegasus, won the day using the same strategy he had employed against the Solymoi. A fourth task involved Bellerophon defeating a band of Carian pirates led by one Cheirmarrhus.

    However, becoming rather boastful and thinking he could fly high enough on his winged steed to take his place amongst the immortal gods on Mount Olympus, Bellerophon was thrown by Pegasus and so fell unceremoniously back to earth. In truth, Pegasus had been disturbed by a gadfly biting his rear, the insect having been sent by Zeus. The demise of the hero, who is now described by Homer as 'hated by all the gods', was a warning for humanity of the dangers of hubris – hubris means dangerous pride before the fall. Pegasus kept on flying and, on reaching Mt. Olympus, he was given the task of carrying Zeus' supply of thunderbolts and then looked after by Eos who was responsible for bringing Dawn across the sky each day.