Chimera
creatureA fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. The Chimera terrorized Lycia until Bellerophon slew it from the back of Pegasus.
The Myth
The Chimera was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a terrifying hybrid creature that breathed fire. She ravaged the countryside of Lycia, destroying crops and killing livestock and people. No warrior could approach her without being incinerated.
King Iobates, hoping to send Bellerophon to his death, ordered the hero to slay the Chimera. Bellerophon succeeded by taming the winged horse Pegasus and attacking from the air, beyond reach of the Chimera's flames. He killed the monster by thrusting a lead-tipped lance into her throat; her own fire melted the lead, which choked her.
The Chimera became one of the most influential creatures in Western imagination. Her impossible combination of different animals gave the word "chimera" its meaning — any fantastical hybrid or impossible dream.
Parents
Typhon and Echidna
Symbols
Fun Fact
In modern science, a "chimera" is an organism with cells from two different genetic sources — a direct descendant of the mythical hybrid.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth: