Homer described the Chimera in the Iliad, saying that "she was of divine stock not of men, in the fore part a lion, in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, breathing forth in terrible wise the might of blazing fire." Hesiod and Apollo Dorus gave similar descriptions: a three-headed creature with a lion in front, a fire-breathing goat in the middle, and a serpent in the rear. Description A Roman mosaic of Bellerophon riding Pegasus and slaying the Chimera, 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, Musée de la Romanité Hesiod also has the Sphinx and the Nemean lion as the offspring of Orthus, and another ambiguous "she", often understood as probably referring to the Chimera, although possibly instead to Echidna, or again even Ceto. However, the mythographers Apollodorus (citing Hesiod as his source) and Hyginus both make the Chimera the offspring of Echidna and Typhon. The term "chimera" has come to describe any mythical or fictional creature with parts taken from various animals, to describe anything composed of disparate parts or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling.įamily " Chimera of Arezzo": an Etruscan bronzeĪccording to Hesiod, the Chimera's mother was a certain ambiguous "she", which may refer to Echidna, in which case the father would presumably be Typhon, though possibly (unlikely) the Hydra or even Ceto was meant instead. It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of monsters like Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head. The Chimera ( / k ɪ ˈ m ɪər ə/ or / k aɪ ˈ m ɪər ə/) or Chimaera ( Chimæra) ( Ancient Greek: Χίμαιρα, Chímaira means 'she-goat' ), according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. The Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, c.
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