Bellerophon and Pegasus
The hero who tamed Pegasus and slew the Chimera but was destroyed by his own hubris when he tried to fly to Olympus.
The Legend of Bellerophon and Pegasus
Bellerophon was a prince of Corinth, son of Poseidon (or Glaucus), falsely accused of assault by Stheneboea (or Anteia), wife of King Proetus of Tiryns. Proetus sent him to his father-in-law Iobates of Lycia with a sealed letter requesting his death. Iobates set Bellerophon impossible tasks: first to kill the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail. Athena appeared to Bellerophon in a dream and gave him a golden bridle. With it he tamed Pegasus, the winged horse born from Medusa's blood when Perseus beheaded her. Mounted on Pegasus, Bellerophon killed the Chimera by thrusting a lead-tipped lance into its fire-breathing mouth — the lead melted and choked the beast. He defeated the Solymi and the Amazons. But then, maddened by success, he tried to fly Pegasus to Olympus. Zeus sent a gadfly that stung Pegasus, and Bellerophon fell to earth, lamed and blinded, wandering alone until death.
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Fun Fact
The Chimera — a monster combining lion, goat, and serpent — gave us the word "chimera" meaning any hybrid or impossible fantasy. In modern genetics, a chimera is an organism containing cells from two different individuals, named directly after Bellerophon's monster. CRISPR gene-editing has made biological chimeras a reality, and every ethics debate about hybrid organisms references the Greek original — the monster you create by mixing things that shouldn't be mixed.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroTamer of Pegasus, slayer of the Chimera
The hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and used him to slay the monstrous Chimera. His story is a cautionary tale about hubris.
Bellerophon and Chimera
💭 conceptNarrative
The hero's aerial battle against a fire-breathing monster while riding the winged horse Pegasus
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Cephalus and Procris
🗡 heroLovers destroyed by jealousy
Cephalus and Procris were devoted spouses whose mutual jealousy — tested by Eos and by a magic gift — led to Procris's accidental death.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts, seeker of the Golden Fleece
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's story is one of ambition, adventure, and tragic betrayal.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Tydeus
🗡 heroThe ferocious warrior who forfeited immortality
A hero of savage courage who fought as one of the Seven Against Thebes but lost Athena's gift of immortality in his final moment.
Sarpédon
🗡 heroSon of Zeus who died at Troy
Sarpedon was a son of Zeus and the greatest Lycian warrior at Troy — his death forced Zeus to confront the limits of even divine power.
Zetes and Calais
🗡 heroflight
Winged sons of Boreas who joined the Argonauts and chased the Harpies away from the blind prophet Phineus.
Pentheus
🗡 herohubris
King of Thebes who denied Dionysus's divinity and was torn apart by his own mother and aunts in a Bacchic frenzy.