BELLEROPHONTES ( Chimera ' s Killer )
2 . THE KHIMAIRA
( Or Chimera ) was a monstrous beast which ravaged the countryside of Lykia in Anatolia . It was a composite creature , with the body and maned head of a lion , a goat ' s head rising from its back , a set of goatudders , and a serpentine tail .
The hero Bellerophontes on was commanded to slay it by King Iobates . He rode into battle against the beast on the back of the winged horse Pegasos and , driving a lead-tipped lance down the Khimaira ' s flaming throat , suffocated it .
The Khimaira may have once been identified with the winter-rising Constellation Capricorn ( the serpent-tailed goat ). The constellation Pegasos appears to drive her from the heavens in spring .
For more information : http :// www . theoi . com / Ther / Khimaira . html
BELLEROPHONTES ( Chimera ' s Killer )
Was one of the greatest of the Greek heroes . His story runs as follows : He was born in Korinthos ( Corinth ), sired by the god Poseidon on the wife of the king . In his youth he captured the winged horse Pegasos as it came to drink from the town ' s fountain . Later he was exiled for the murder of a relative and travelled to the court of King Proitos in Argos . There Queen Stheneboia developed a passion for him . When he spurned her advances , she told her husband that he had tried to violate her . Proitos sent him to King Iobates in Lykia with a closed letter requesting that the boy be put to death . Iobates was reluctant to do this himself and so commanded Bellerophontes to slay the fire-breathing Khimaira ( Chimera ) which was ravaging the land . He accomplished the task and returned alive . The king next sent him to subdue the barbarous Solymoi tribe , and later the Amazones , but again he was victorious . Finally Iobates commanded his guards to ambush and kill the youth , but he slew them all . The king then recognized him for the son of a god , and welcomed him into his house as his son-in-law and heir .
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