Chimaera





 List of Key Events

--- > ki- **meer** - //uh// --- > Chimera was a three headed mythical creatue having the head of a lion, goat, and snake. It could also breath fire. --- > Chimera was the daughter of Echidna and the son of Typhon.

--- > Chimera was defeated by a co-alliance of a flying mythical creature named Pegasus and a God named Bellerophon.

--- > Chimera literally means "made up of many parts" --- > Chimera is supposiedly able to still be remembered/ living today, and it is said that her soul cn be found on the Lycian Way in Turkey.



The question should actually be “What was Chimera?” In ancient Greek mythology there were numerous mythical creatures, gods, and worlds that all played their role in the “myth”. The Chimera however was very unique. Like many of the mythical creatures it was a beastly figure that the average person today would not want to come across when walking in the woods. However, the Chimera was different then most creatures for it was almost like three entirely different creatures all combined into one “monster”. What were these creatures exactly? The Chimera’s main creature (or body) is that of a lioness. The second creature that makes up Chimera is a snake’s head that is the tip of the lioness’s tail. The third creature comes out of the spine of the lioness and it represents the head of a goat. On top of all of that the Chimera could also breathe fire.





Chimera’s family consisted of many well known moythological creatures. Her mother was named Echidna who had three heads. One of a lion, one of a dragon, and one of a goat that breathed fire. Her father was named typhon who was another great mythical creature. Now, chimera also mated with her brother Orthrus and added yet two more mythological creatures to the family. Their names were Sphinx and the Nemean Lion. [|More on Chimeras family and the Entire Family Breakdown of all the Gods]

Chimera was a very strong, monsterous creature for a long time but even the strongest have to be defeated eventually. Chimera’s defeat was by the co-alliance of two other mythical creatures named Bellerophon and Pegasus. These two creatures had been ordered to terminate Chimera and because of their unique abilities there were able to do so successfully. Bellerophon rode on Pegasus’s back to get an advantagous arial position over Chimera and this position was out of the reach of Chimera’s fiery breath. From this position Bellerophon was able to shoot Chimera without being hurt. This accounted for a victory by Bellerophon and the defeat of Chimera.

Chimera’s symbolization determined on who was evaluating her. In the words of Harry Thurston Peck he stated in 1898 that “Even in antiquity the Chimera was regarded as a symbol of the volcanic character of the Lycian soil”. This means that in the views of Henry Thurston Peck, that Chimera has and always will be a symbol of some ancient volcanic substance or compound that he feels is still in the “Lycian soil” today. Another man named Pliny the Elder came up with another view of how Chimera is still symbolized today. He was quoted by a man named Photius and the quote basically concluded on the fact that in some places in the world such as on the Lycian Way in Turkey Chimera can be identified with these certain vents found in flaming rock where nearly 200 of these vents are said to exist. The events are also said to emit a gas called methane and there is a theory that the hot gases coming from these vents were once able to help sailors navigate and is said that today it is used to brew tea.



The term “Chimera” is metaphorically used to describe something that is made up of many parts, which makes sense because Chimera (the creature) as stated before is made up of three creatures in one. Also Chimera can be a term used by certain mathematicians such as George Elliot who used the term Chimera to describe math terms such as C* -algebras. He did this by relating Chimera’s tail (the serpent) passing through Chimera’s head (the lioness) for an “inner automorphism” of those C* -algebras passing through the homomorphisms of other C* -algebras.

[|Chimera works cited.doc]