See U in History
Bellerophon and Chimera
The Young Bellerophon had been sent by the King Iobates for a suicide mission.
He would have to face a terrible monster that ravaged the region of Lycia, all by himself.
But, with the help of the Goddess Athena,
the hero managed to tame the legendary
winged horse Pegasus,
and riding the flying steed, Bellerophon went to meet his fate.
The region of Lycia was being devastated by a creature known as Chimera.
This bestial creature was a combination of a lion, a serpent, a goat and a dragon,
and was also the offspring of the powerful monster Typhon and Echidna.
With its flaming breath, Chimera destroyed everything in its sight, scorching plantations and entire villages.
From high above, Bellerophon watched the monstrous beast and prepared himself for the attack.
The creature launched gushes of fire against the hero, but, riding his horse Pegasus,
the hero managed to dodge the beast’s attacks.
The hero flew in circles around Chimera, which appeared to be completely perplexed by him.
The monster, with its powerful claws, tried to catch its enemies, but was rejected by Pegasus’ powerful recoil.
After that hit, the creature felt wobbly, and, in that same moment,
Bellerophon and
Pegasus plunged into the beast.
With a powerful thrust, the Hero impaled the creature.
Chimera was dead, and Bellerophon returned to King Iobates with the creature’s head as a trophy.
He was speechless with the Hero’s return,
because he wanted to see him dead, and so the king sent him to face two toher difficult missions.
He would have to deal with the dangerous warriors Solymi, offspring of Ares,
and he would also have to fight the Amazons.
Mounted on the glorious Pegasus, Bellerophon defeated both the Solymi
and the Amazons, and triumphantly walked back to the kingdom.
Iobates realized that a man like that could only be protected by the gods
and abandoned the idea of having him killed.
He delivered his daughter’s hand to the hero and turned him into an heir apparent.
With Philonoe, the hero was happy for some time and had 3 children.
Nevertheless, after achieving such deeds, the hero’s heart was filled with pride,
and he started to consider himself a god.
After all, only a god could achieve such accomplishments,
and so he considered that his place was not among mere mortals, rather amid the Olympian gods.
So he jumped on the loin of the winged horse and flew towards Mount Olympus.
Zeus, who watched everything, was furious with Bellerophon’s petulance,
when he tried
to invade the Olympus.
The great God sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, which, frightened, caused Bellerophon to fall.
The hero’s fate after the fall is unknown, some say he died due to his pride,
others that he was saved by the goddess Athena, his protector,
and that he spent the rest of his days
trying to find the winged horse Pegasus,
to no avail, because, for its services to the
gods, it was honored and transformed into a constellation,
which can still be seen in the
skies nowadays.
