Chimera (mythology)

• 1. The Three-Headed Beast

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  In the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat. This creature breathed forth terrible fire from its middle head. Homer described this monster as divine stock not of men in his Iliad. The Chimera stood as a bane to many men across ancient Lycia. It was reared by Araisodarus who fathered Trojan warriors killed by Nestor's sons. Antilochus and Trasymedes struck down these warriors during the war. The beast itself became a plague for humans sent against them.

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• 2. Parentage And Siblings

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  Hesiod wrote that the mother was an ambiguous she which may refer to Echidna. If so then Typhon would be the father of this hybrid offspring. Apollodorus and Hyginus both state the Chimera is the child of Echidna and Typhon. Other myths suggest the Hydra or even Ceto might be the parent instead. Hesiod also lists the Sphinx and Nemean lion as siblings born to Orthus. These creatures formed a family of monsters threatening the Greek world. Their existence marked a time when divine forces clashed with humanity.

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• 3. The Heroic Battle

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  King Iobates ordered Bellerophon to kill the Chimera in Lycia. He hoped the monster would destroy the hero instead of being destroyed. The creature had been killing cattle and devastating the country around him. Bellerophon trusted in the signs of the gods before he began his quest. He mounted Pegasus who sprang from the blood of Medusa. Soaring on high the winged horse shot down the Chimera from above. Herodotus notes that Pegasus helped noble Bellerophon slay the beast. This victory proved more than a match for many other warriors.

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• 4. Vases And Bronzes

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  Proto-Corinthian pottery painters displayed some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes. The Corinthian type was fixed in the 670s BC by these artists. Variations in pictorial representations suggest multiple origins existed for this motif. Later coins struck at Sicyon near Corinth bear the chimera-motif clearly. Two vase painters employed the motif so consistently they received pseudonyms. They were called the Bellerophon Painter and the Chimaera Painter respectively. Etruscan wall paintings from the fourth century BC also depicted the creature. Roman mosaics dated between the second and third centuries AD show the battle scene.

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• 5. Flaming Rock Vents

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  Pliny the Elder cited Ctesias identifying the Chimera with permanent gas vents. These vents are found today by hikers on the Lycian Way in southwest Turkey. Called Yanartaş or flaming rock the area contains about two dozen openings. They group into two patches on the hillside above the Temple of Hephaestus. The site lies approximately three kilometers north of Çıralı near ancient Olympos. Methane thought to be of metamorphic origin emits burning fire from these cracks. Sailors used these fires as landmarks during their voyages across the sea. Modern geologists confirm the presence of natural gas emissions in this region.

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• 6. Global Hybrid Figures

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  Ancient Egypt featured a fire-breathing lioness representing war goddess Sekhmet. Representations date back 3000 years prior to Greek accounts of the beast. Bast became strongly associated with Wadjet the patron goddess of Lower Egypt. Indus Valley seals depict different kinds of chimeras composed of local animals. Scholars note that the Indus people did not name these creatures explicitly. Medieval art depicted chimerical figures as embodiments of deceptive satanic forces. Dante's vision of Geryon in Inferno xvii showed a hybrid monster with human face and scaly tail. Cesare Ripa's Iconological provided iconic representations of hypocrisy well into the seventeenth century.

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