Meet with us the Chimera. A monster with multiple legends that populates Greek mythology in multiple stories.
What is a Chimera?
A chimera is a Greek monster with the features of a lion, goat and snake. This strange and terrifying creature was once thought to be invincible, but its reign of terror eventually came to a gruesome end.
Features
The characteristics of this Greek mythological being include his physical appearance, personality, special abilities that mythology has described in detail to make known everything about him.
Physical Description
The Chimera may be the strangest creature of ancient Greece, so strange that its name is now used to describe any creature with an unusual combination of animal traits.
At its most basic level, the Chimera is a female lion. It has a lion-like body, complete from head to tail. The exaggerated ears and breasts show that the creature is female, even if it has a short, ragged mane.
But, of course, there is more to the Chimera than its lion-like features. The creature also has a goat’s head, which rises between its shoulder blades. The goat’s head appears to be male, as it has horns and a beard. Finally, the monster’s lion tail transforms into a snake, with a venomous snake head replacing the lion’s natural fur.
Personality
Like most of the chimerical creatures of Greek mythology, the Chimera was a nasty piece of work. She had a terrible temper and no civilized instincts. She plundered many villages, mostly killing livestock, but sometimes destroying houses and killing innocent people as well.
Special skills
The Chimera was reputed to be “almost invincible,” having the strength of a lion, the cunning of a goat and the venom of a snake. But by far the most unusual and deadly weapon of this monster was its ability to breathe fire.
Fire came out of the goat’s head and devastated all opponents who approached the beast. The Chimera was also seen as an omen, in a sense. It often appeared in the face of natural disasters, mostly volcanic eruptions.
Legends of the Chimera
The legends of the chimera are as follows:
Parents
The Chimera was one of the children of a legendary couple: Typhon and Echidna. Typhon, the father, was an ancient, monstrous giant who was believed to be the most dangerous creature in all of Greece. As a mate, he took the next most monstrous creature in Greece, a half-woman, half-serpent named Echidna.
Together, Typhon and Echidna spawned many of Greece’s most dangerous beasts, including the Lynean Hydra, the Sphinx, the Lion of Nemea, Cerberus and, of course, the Chimera.
Battle with Bellerophon
For years, the Chimera roamed the Lyon countryside unopposed, for “not even a number of men could easily overpower it, let alone one.” But their legend took no account of the hero Bellerophon.
Bellerophon was the son of Poseidon and a beautiful mortal woman. As a young man, he committed a crime and was sent to King Proteus to be punished. Proteus saw great potential in the boy and decided to forgive his crime. Unfortunately, Proteus’ wife also saw potential in Bellerophon. She begged him to become her lover, and when he refused, she accused him of raping her.
King Proteus was outraged, but knowing that immortal blood ran through Bellerophon’s veins, he was afraid to punish the boy. Instead, he sent him to his father-in-law, King Iobates, who devised a clever way to get rid of the young offender. He challenged Bellerophon to kill the Chimera, hoping that the Chimera would kill Bellerophon instead.
But Iobates did not know that Bellerophon has a secret ally. Pegasus, the mighty winged horse, was Bellerophon’s half-brother, and the two had spent many happy days together in their childhood. Now, the young hero called Pegasus to his aid, and the two launched an aerial attack on the Chimera.
Bellerophon rained arrows upon it, giving it several critical wounds. Finally, he picked up a lead spear and hurled it at the creature’s fiery throat. There, the lead melted and spread throughout its body, burning it from the inside out.
Cultural Representation
The cultural representation involving the chimera is given by:
Origin
The Chimera comes from ancient Greek mythology, appearing in paintings as early as the 6th century BC and in texts as early as the 8th century BC. The best Greek scholars, including Pliny the Elder, Seneca, Cicero, Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Plato, Pindar, Hesiod, all contributed to the legend of the monster.
Three thousand years before the appearance of the ancient Greek chimera, the Egyptians worshipped a sun goddess named Sekhmet, who sometimes appeared as a fire-breathing lion. It is possible that the legend of Sekhmet inspired the Chimera.
Modern appearances
Today, the word “chimera” can be used to describe any creature with a strange combination of animal parts. However, the classic lion-goat snake chimera still has a place in fantasy and science fiction. Franchises such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Wrath of the Titans, Percy Dragon, American Dragon, Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft have all used the Chimera to test their heroes.
