Core to the mythology of Ancient Greece were the gods and goddesses, particularly those of Mount Olympus. The stories from Ancient Greece though also revolved around the actions of a number of heroes and their adventures. Heroes, such as Heracles and Perseus, needed adversities to overcome, and so there were numerous monsters that had to be overcome; one such monster being the Chimera.

The Chimera is spoken of in many ancient texts, including those written by Homer, Hesiod and Pindar. Traditionally the monster is described as a hybrid animal with the body and head of a lion, the midsection and additional head of a she-goat and a snakes’ body and head acting as a tail; from the lion’s head would come forth fire.

As with many of the most famous monsters of Greek mythology, the Chimera was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, the most gigantic and horrendous of all monsters. This parentage made the Chimera sibling to Cerberus, the Hydra and the Colchian Dragon. Like many of its sibling the Chimera was particularly associated with a particular region, and in the case of the Chimera this region was Lycia in Asia Minor. Some stories tell of how the Chimera was raised by Amisodarus, a Lycian king, before being released into the countryside.

The Chimera was said to terrorise locals and passers-by, and even observing the monster away from its home area was said to be a forewarning of a future natural disaster. Hesiod’s Theogony states that the Chimera, along with Orthrus, was parent to the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion, although other sources give their parentage as Typhon and Echidna.

Ultimately the Chimera would meet her match and be bested by one of the heroes of Greek mythology, Bellerophon.

It was King Iobates of Lycia who gave the seemingly impossible task of slaying the Chimera to Bellerophon. Proetus the king of Tiryns had requested his father-in-law, Iobates, to kill Bellerophon, but the Lycian king had been unwilling to risk the fury of the Erinyes in killing a guest, and so set a task which should kill him.

Bellerophon though was given advice by a Lycian seer about how to go about the task, and ultimately it involved Bellerophon capturing Pegasus, the winged offspring of Medusa.

With Pegasus beneath him, Bellerophon flew to the lair of the Chimera and out of reach of the monster’s fiery breath, shot arrows down on the creature. The Chimera though was seemingly unharmed by the efforts of the hero. 

Bellerophon came up with a new plan to slay the monster. Returning to the fight, Bellerophon now was armed with a lance that had a block of lead impaled upon it. Bellerophon aimed well, and the block of lead was dropped into the neck of the Chimera. The fiery heat melted the lead, and ultimately caused the monster to suffocate; and so another of the offspring of Echidna was killed by a Greek hero.

The Chimera remains a recognisable name into the modern day although it is now often used to describe a mutation of some biological organism. The original Chimera was probably invented to explain the strange fire vents in the Valley of Olympos in Lycia, with the thought of a dangerous monster being far more poetic than the simple burning off of methane.