What is the Chimera?
The Chimera is a monster of Greek mythology. It combines several animals, with the front of a lion, the body of a goat and a serpent for a tail, and it breathes fire. It is sometimes depicted with three heads, including a goat’s head growing from its back. Its name means “she-goat” in Greek.
Bellerophon slays the monster
The Chimera, said to be the offspring of the monsters Typhon and Echidna, was ravaging the land of Lycia in Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). The hero Bellerophon tamed the winged horse Pegasus with a golden bridle given to him by the goddess Athena and slew the Chimera by shooting arrows at it from the sky. Pegasus was the horse born from the blood of Medusa.
In southwestern Turkey there is a place called “Yanartas” where natural gas escapes from cracks in the rock and burns continuously, and one theory says it was the origin of the Chimera legend.
The word “chimera”
In biology, an organism whose body contains a mix of cells with different genetic information is called a “chimera,” a word taken from this monster. It is also used to mean “an impossible fantasy.”
Japan’s nue, with a monkey’s face, a tanuki’s body, a tiger’s limbs and a snake’s tail, is a composite beast much like the Chimera.
The Chimera in art and games
The “Chimera of Arezzo,” an ancient Etruscan bronze in Florence, Italy, is famous as a masterpiece depicting the Chimera. Today it is widely known as the leading composite monster of fantasy games.
