Chimera
A 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 of Chimera
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. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
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A creature half bull and half serpent whose entrails, if burned, could grant power to overthrow the gods
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero
Typhon
🐉 creatureFather of all monsters
The most fearsome monster in Greek mythology, who challenged Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. Typhon was the father of many of mythology's most dangerous creatures.
Sphinx
🐉 creatureRiddling monster with a lion body and human head
A creature with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and head of a woman. The Sphinx terrorized Thebes with her deadly riddle until Oedipus solved it.
Typhon
🐉 creatureMost powerful monster who challenged Zeus
Typhon was the most fearsome monster in Greek mythology — a giant with serpent heads who nearly overthrew Zeus and would have ruled the cosmos.
Echidna
🐉 creatureMother of all monsters
Echidna was half woman, half serpent — called the Mother of All Monsters for bearing the most fearsome creatures of Greek mythology.
Centaurs
🐉 creatureHalf-human, half-horse beings
A race of beings with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Most were wild and unruly, but the wise Chiron was the exception — teacher of heroes.
Lamia
🐉 creatureChild-devouring queen turned monster
Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya whom Zeus loved; when Hera killed her children in jealousy, Lamia was driven mad and became a child-snatching monster.
Pegasus
🐉 creatureFlight, heroism
Winged divine horse born from the blood of Medusa who carried Bellerophon against the Chimaera
Campe
🐉 creaturemonsters
Campe was the monstrous she-dragon who guarded the Cyclopes in Tartarus — her death gave Zeus the thunderbolt that won the war against the Titans.
Sphinx
🐉 creatureRiddler and strangler of Thebes
The Greek Sphinx was a winged monster with the head of a woman and the body of a lion who posed a deadly riddle to all who approached Thebes.
Hydra
🐉 creatureMulti-headed serpent of Lerna
A monstrous water serpent with multiple heads that grew two more whenever one was cut off. Slaying the Hydra was Heracles's second labor.