Dragons of Fame

Chimera / Chimaera

History: The name Chimera means "young she-goat."¹ The monsters Echidne and Typhon produced her, along with her siblings, the Lernean Hydra, Cerberus, the Sphinx, and the Nemean Lion.²

Chimera had the parts of different animals: a lion, a goat, and a snake. Some sources claim that Chimera has the head of a lion, the tail of a snake, and the body of a goat.¹ Other sources say that she possesses the heads of all three (lion, snake, and goat), the fore parts of a lion, and the rear of a goat, ending in a tail of a snake, as in Hesoid's Theogony.² Some sources also report that she possessed the wings of a dragon.

Chimera was something of a "pet" to the king of Caria until she escaped and took up residence elsewhere.² The region of Lycia (now Turkey) became the home of her terror, where she feasted upon any living thing that came near enough for her to gobble down.³

The ruler sent for the young hero Bellerophon to slay the vicious beast and save the local people.³

Bellerophon, working with his fantastical winged horse, Pegasus, agreed to slay the monster. To avoid her fiery breath, in one version he flies high above her and shoots arrows into her. He did this because her many-headed body could not easily look directly upward.¹

In another version, Bellerophon takes a block of lead and thrusts it into Chimera's throat using a spear. Suffocation ensued when the lead became melted by her own fiery breath.²

Physical Description: This creature has the head of the lion, and sometimes has the full frontal body of a lion. In addition, it has a head of a goat and the tail of a dragon or snake.⁴ It is sometimes depicted with dragon wings and other times is depicted with three heads.²

1. Nigg [Mythical Beats] 58
2. Rose [Monsters] 79
3. Rose [Monsters] 80
4. Chimaera: The Origins of the Myth

For more information about footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.