The Chimera
Chimaera in Frazer’s translation of Apollodorus
A fire-breathing monster that combines lion, goat, and dragon, ravages Lycia, and is killed from the air by Bellerophon riding Pegasus.
Quick answer
The Chimera is a three-part, fire-breathing monster of Greek mythology. Apollodorus gives it the front of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and a goat’s head in the middle. Bellerophon kills it while flying above it on Pegasus.
Quick facts
| Tradition | Greek mythology |
|---|---|
| Books | Apollodorus, Library 2.3.1; Hesiod, Theogony 319–325 |
| Source realm | Lycia and its countryside |
| Creature type | Three-part animal hybrid |
| Form | Lion in front, dragon behind, with a goat’s head in the middle [1] |
| Ability | Breathes fire through the goat head |
| Parents in Hesiod | Typhon and Echidna [2] |
| Defeated by | Bellerophon, shooting from Pegasus |
What the source books say
King Iobates orders Bellerophon to kill the Chimera because he expects the mission to destroy the hero. Apollodorus says that even a crowd of men could not easily subdue the creature. It has the power of three beasts, breathes fire, and lays waste to the surrounding country and cattle.[1]
Bellerophon mounts the winged horse Pegasus, flies above the monster, and brings it down with his bow. Hesiod supplies an earlier compact description: the Chimera is immense, swift, strong, three-headed, and fire-breathing, and Pegasus and Bellerophon kill it together.[2]
Description and abilities
Apollodorus places the lion at the front, the dragon at the rear, and a goat’s head in the middle; fire comes from the goat head. Hesiod instead speaks of three heads—lion, goat, and dragon—and stresses the creature’s speed and strength. Both accounts make its composite form and fire breath essential.[1] [2]
- Combines three different animals in one body
- Breathes a destructive blast of fire
- Ravages countryside and livestock
- Is too dangerous for ordinary numbers to overcome easily
- Is defeated by an airborne rider and winged horse
Source realm: Lycia
The encounter belongs to Bellerophon’s trials in Lycia, where Iobates rules. The Chimera threatens both cultivated land and herds, while Pegasus changes the battlefield by carrying Bellerophon above the creature’s reach. The episode connects a regional monster to the wider divine geography of Pegasus and the Gorgons.
Role in the myth
An impossible commission
Iobates chooses the Chimera because its reputation makes the task look fatal. The monster is part of a human plot to destroy Bellerophon without openly executing him.
Three dangers in one
The combination of predator, horned animal, serpent-like dragon, and fire makes the Chimera more than an unusually large beast. Its body is itself a catalogue of threats.
Flight changes the contest
Bellerophon succeeds through Pegasus as well as personal skill. The sources pair hero and horse against a creature ordinary fighters cannot readily master.
Books and references
- 1The Library
Apollodorus; translated by James George Frazer. Loeb Classical Library, 1921. See Book 2, section 3.1.
Read the translated text ↗ - 2Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Loeb Classical Library, 1914. See Theogony, lines 319–325.
Project Gutenberg edition ↗