Legend:
Bellerophon and the Flying Horse
One day, a young man called Bellerophon came
to stay with King Proetus. Bellerophon handed the King a letter that Proetus’
son-in-law wanted delivered to him. For the next few days, they spent time
talking, riding and generally getting to know each other. They were enjoying
themselves so much that the King completely forgot about the letter.
On the tenth morning of Bellerophon’s visit, Proetus remembered the letter and broke the seal. It stated, “Bellerophon must die. He offended my wife – your daughter terribly whilst staying with us and no good can come of him if he is alive.” Proetus thought there was nothing bad about Bellerophon and felt it wrong to kill a guest, so he decided to send Bellerophon on a quest instead of killing him. He told Bellerophon that he needed to kill the chimera, a monstrous beast with the head of a lion that attacks from the front, the head of a serpent that attacks from the back and the head of a fire-breathing goat in between. Bellerophon accepted with only the tiniest tremor in his voice.
When he went to bed that night, he was very frightened and asked the gods to help him know how toattack it. Suddenly, he saw a powerful-looking woman standing be his bedside who looked remarkably like the statues of the goddess Athena he saw in temples. She told him, “Approach the chimera from the air!”
Shocked, Bellerophon replied, “How? I can’t fly!”
The goddess answered, “No, but there is a wild winged horse called Pegasus who can.” She handed Bellerophon a golden bridle. “Approach Pegasus whilst he is drinking. If you catch him with the bridle, he will be yours to ride. Attach a lump of lead on your spear to make the chimera gag when you thrust the spear in its throat and make it have heartburn when you make the lead melt in the goat head. Sleep now.” Bellerophon knew nothing more until the morning.
Bellerophon awoke the next morning to find a golden bridle in his hands. He felt more courageous because a goddess was helping him. Over breakfast, he asked Proetus where he could find the horsePegasus. Proetus told him where Pegasus might be and off Bellerophon went. Carrying only a spear and the golden bridle, he went to the forest where Pegasus lived, waited for him to take a drink and then threw the bridle up over his nose. Bellerophon climbed on and they took off.
Bellerophon tried controlling Pegasus until he felt he was confident enough to tackle the chimera and thenflew to where the king had told him the monster lived. When he arrived, he saw the chimera, as terrifying and strange as the stories had suggested and even bigger than he had expected.
On the tenth morning of Bellerophon’s visit, Proetus remembered the letter and broke the seal. It stated, “Bellerophon must die. He offended my wife – your daughter terribly whilst staying with us and no good can come of him if he is alive.” Proetus thought there was nothing bad about Bellerophon and felt it wrong to kill a guest, so he decided to send Bellerophon on a quest instead of killing him. He told Bellerophon that he needed to kill the chimera, a monstrous beast with the head of a lion that attacks from the front, the head of a serpent that attacks from the back and the head of a fire-breathing goat in between. Bellerophon accepted with only the tiniest tremor in his voice.
When he went to bed that night, he was very frightened and asked the gods to help him know how toattack it. Suddenly, he saw a powerful-looking woman standing be his bedside who looked remarkably like the statues of the goddess Athena he saw in temples. She told him, “Approach the chimera from the air!”
Shocked, Bellerophon replied, “How? I can’t fly!”
The goddess answered, “No, but there is a wild winged horse called Pegasus who can.” She handed Bellerophon a golden bridle. “Approach Pegasus whilst he is drinking. If you catch him with the bridle, he will be yours to ride. Attach a lump of lead on your spear to make the chimera gag when you thrust the spear in its throat and make it have heartburn when you make the lead melt in the goat head. Sleep now.” Bellerophon knew nothing more until the morning.
Bellerophon awoke the next morning to find a golden bridle in his hands. He felt more courageous because a goddess was helping him. Over breakfast, he asked Proetus where he could find the horsePegasus. Proetus told him where Pegasus might be and off Bellerophon went. Carrying only a spear and the golden bridle, he went to the forest where Pegasus lived, waited for him to take a drink and then threw the bridle up over his nose. Bellerophon climbed on and they took off.
Bellerophon tried controlling Pegasus until he felt he was confident enough to tackle the chimera and thenflew to where the king had told him the monster lived. When he arrived, he saw the chimera, as terrifying and strange as the stories had suggested and even bigger than he had expected.
He headed for the monster, urging Pegasus into
a dive. Hearing the wings, the chimera’s giant serpent head looked up.
Bellerophon tried to spear it, but the serpent head wrapped itself tightly
around the spear, spitting venom. Bellerophon tried hard to pull the spear from
the chimera and finally, the head lost the grip. Then they wheeled around and
attacked again. This time, the lion head bared its teeth and roared ferociously
as Pegasus swooped past. Bellerophon leaned out and jabbed his spear into his
neck. The lion head roared with pain and its claws swung out at them,
but Pegasus flew up just in time to avoid theattack. It was bleeding
a little from the neck wound, but it still looked scarier than ever. The
goat head glared up at them with its sickening yellow eyes as they came
down again. As Bellerophon leaned forward to strike again with its
spear, the goat head mouth opened and streams of flames shot into the
air. Without flinching, Bellerophon thrust the spear right into the
goat head’s throat. He pulled the spear away, leaving the lead lump stuck.
He could already see the chimera choking and gasping as the molten metal
entered its blood. Suddenly, the chimera let out an almighty scream, making
Pegasus fly higher in an attempt to escape the noise and making Bellerophon
clamp his hands over his ears in pain. But all at once, the chimera fell
silent and dead.
He flew back to King Proetus’ palace, where Proetus rushed out to greet him. “You must have the gods on your side to tame that creature. My son-in-law will have to believe that you are good now. Did you kill the chimera as I asked?” questioned Proetus. “Yes, I did,” said Bellerophon, “But what do you mean by your son-in-law? Proetus answered, “He sent me a note to tell me to kill you because he said you offended his wife, but I didn’t want to, so I sent you on a difficult quest to prove yourself.” Bellerophon stated, “Your son-in-law’s wife wanted to kiss me behind her husband’s back so I left the next morning.” Proetus told Bellerophon that he believed that the chimera was actually slain and that he would have nothing to worryabout.
He flew back to King Proetus’ palace, where Proetus rushed out to greet him. “You must have the gods on your side to tame that creature. My son-in-law will have to believe that you are good now. Did you kill the chimera as I asked?” questioned Proetus. “Yes, I did,” said Bellerophon, “But what do you mean by your son-in-law? Proetus answered, “He sent me a note to tell me to kill you because he said you offended his wife, but I didn’t want to, so I sent you on a difficult quest to prove yourself.” Bellerophon stated, “Your son-in-law’s wife wanted to kiss me behind her husband’s back so I left the next morning.” Proetus told Bellerophon that he believed that the chimera was actually slain and that he would have nothing to worryabout.
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