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.
3