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Chimera

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Chimera Draethius

Chimera by Draethius

The Chimera (also referred to as Chimaera) is a draconic creature from ancient Greek mythology. She was a hybrid with the head and body of a lion, the tail of a snake or dragon, and an additional goat head on her side. She lived near Lycia, Asia Minor where she was a terror to the populace before being slain by Bellerophon with the aid of Pegasus.

Description[]

The Chimera was a hybrid with a lion, goat, and serpent head. She was known to breathe fire, the goat's head being usually the one that can do so (although in one late Roman mosaic excavated at Mortola, formally known as Myrtils, all three heads possessed a fiery breath.[1][2]

Mythology[]

According to Homer, who was the first to detail the myth, Belleophron had slain the divine-descendent Chimera at the order of the king of Lycia.[3] Later interpretations do not elaborate much further on the Chimera's backstory or the battle itself other than that Bellerophon had Pegasus as an ally and that she was slain with molten lead.[1] An exception would be Hesoid, who wrote that she was an offspring of Echidna and Typhon, with a possible alternative mother of the Chimera being the Lernaean Hydra.[4]

Iconography[]

The Chimera was immensely popular in artwork alongside Pegasus. Typical iconography shows Bellerophon striking the Chimera on the back with a spear while on top of Pegasus, this artwork possibly morphing into artwork of Saint George slaying the dragon in medieval and Renaissance artwork.[1]

Commentary[]

Pliny the Elder, Strabo, Heraclitus, and a Homer scholiast had rationalized the Chimera as a mythologized aspect of part of the natural landscape of Lycia such as a volcano or gorge.[5][6][7][8]

In Popular Culture[]

  • The Chimera is a species of creature in Dungeons & Dragons. Since its original debut in the "White Box" Dungeons & Dragons set, the species has been described to have an additional dragon head that can breathe fire. Official artwork of the chimera depicts it with dragon wings, as well as a lion's tail in replacement of the snake tail which evolves into a dragon's tail in more recent depictions.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Daniel Ogden (2013) Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds: A Sourcebook Oxford University Press pp.14, 75-81
  2. ↑ Daniel Ogden (2021) The Dragon in the West: From Ancient Myth to Modern Legend Oxford University Press
  3. ↑ Homer, Illiad 6.152
  4. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 319
  5. ↑ Strabo C665
  6. ↑ Pliny, Natural History 2.236
  7. ↑ Schol. Homer, Illiad 6.181
  8. ↑ Heraclitus, De Incredibilibus 15

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