Bellerophon-The Rise and Fall of a Tragic Hero
1.who is Bellerophon
2.who killed the chimer
3. heroes in Greek mythology
(heroes in Greek mythology)
👉👉👉when we think of Greek mythology's most iconic stories and figures outside of its gods and goddesses there are plenty of heroes that come to mind from Odysseus and his epic voyage home to Heracles and his 12 labors and that's not even mentioning in the likes of Theseus Achilles Jason and of course Perseus perhaps Greek mythology's most celebrated hero there are however some heroes who never really get a share of the spotlight despite having their own epic stories and I think the rise and fall of Bellerophon is a perfect example Bellerophon or Bellerophontes is often described as the son of Poseidon and Eurynome the wife of Glaucus king of Corinth there are however some poets who disagreed believe in that Glaucus was actually his father and though Glaucus' mother was a daughter of the Titan Atlas given him some kind of divinity I personally like to look at Bellerophon as the demigod son of Poseidon his story begins with him being exiled from his home in Argos he stood before King Proetus having committed the crime of murder who exactly he killed is never really discussed in any detail it can vary from his own brother to a shadowy enemy and even a ruler of the Corinthians we don't know for certain who he killed and the reasons why we just know that he committed the crime of murder for some unknown reason King Proetus cleansed Bellerophon of his crime and gave him a royal pardon the King's wife Queenston the King's wife Queen Stheneboea took a liking to Bellerophon and when her advances were rejected she accused him of forcing himself upon her the King believed in the word of his wife was now furious to say the least not only had Bellerophon taken his hospitality and thrown it back in his face but the pardon he gave him now made him a guest in his kingdom and to kill a guest in your own kingdom is to incur the wrath of Zeus the only solution Proetus had was to send Bellerophon to his father-in-law King Iobates accompanied of a sealed letter asking him to execute Bellerophon for violating his wife when he arrived in lycia he dined of the king for several days before he read the message and even then Iobates himself feared the Enrinyes would descend upon him for murdering a guest so instead he sent Bellerophon on a mission that he believed to be impossible he sent him to slay the Chimera a fire-breathing hybrid monster with the head and
👉👉👉body of a goat and lion and a serpent for a tail the Chimera had plagued the countryside of Lycia for what felt like an eternity and if it did indeed kill Bellerophon then his death would no longer be at the hands of Iobates or Proetus if by some means he managed to slay the Chimera then Iobates would have been seen as the hero king who saved his people he could see no downside to his plan now at this point in time Bellerophon wasn't an established hero who you will expect to just walk up to the Chimera shop of its multiple heads and still head home in time for happy hour of Dionysus no he would need help and a lot of it he first traveled to the renowned seer Polyeidos who gave him crucial advice about his upcoming battle with the Chimera he told Bellerophon that he would have to obtain the services of the winged steed Pegasus which would give him a distinct advantage in battle this ties in to the more classical depictions of the Chimera where it didn't have wings meaning flying above the beast would help prevent him from being torn to pieces and burnt to cinders Pegasus however would not come quietly he would have to be tamed and in order and in order to do this he would have to spend the evening in the temple of Athena during his time in the temple Athena appeared to him in a dream and when he awoke he was given a golden bridle that he would use to tame Pegasus in some accounts Athena appeared to him with Pegasus and in others he would have to take the bridle and find the horse himself there are even versions where it was Poseidon who appeared to him and with Poseidon being the god of horses he then presented Pegasus to his son Bellerophon at this point unaware of his father's true identity with the aid of Pegasus Bellerophon arrived in Lycia ready to face the Chimera it didn't take long however for Bellerophon to realize that the volley of arrows that he rained down had no effect and
👉👉👉so he was left flying around aimlessly attempting to avoid the turret of fire being expelled by the chimera eventually the fire gave him an idea on the end of his spear he attached a large block of lead he then approached the Chimera with his spear pointed head-on the Chimera continued to breathe fire but this time the lead began to melt causing the block of lead to break off and fall into the chimeras throat where it lodged itself the lead continued to melt and burn the Chimera from the inside blocking its air passage and causing it to suffocate all of a sudden Bellerophon had done the impossible he had slain the Chimera upon return in the upon returning the king was shocked but despite his heroics Iobates had taken all of the credit and he refused to acknowledge that it was Bellerophon who had in fact slain the Chimera instead he sent him on another quest in order to prove himself he was sent to quell the uprising of the Amazons and the Solymi tribes of warriors who had not accepted Iobates as their king flying high above them on Pegasus he would then drop boulders on them down below literally squashing the rebellion Iobates was now sure that Bellerophon could not have been a mere mortal and fear in him now more than and fearing him now more than ever he decided to have him assassinated the last task he was given was to find a group of pirates who had stolen from the crown it was during this encounter that the assassins would strike sadly for the King he had waited too long and now Bellerophon was now more than aware of his strength and divine nature upon upon being ambushed he then killed all of the assassins that were sent after him Iobates then sent his palace guards to finish the job but Bellerophon looked to his father for assistance and Poseidon did indeed answer flooding parts of the city when the guards approached him with no one to turn to Iobates finally conceded and presented Bellerophon with a new sealed letter stating that he would marry his youngest daughter and be given half of the kingdom Bellerophon was now given the recognition that he felt he deserved aswell as riches beyond his wildest dreams he was now Bellerophontes the slayer of monsters the man who saved Lycia however even a fairly exciting human life now seemed mundane he had defeated the Chimera after all and proven himself he felt he now belonged on Mount Olympus he's rightful home eventually he was so overcome with boredom he took Pegasus and began his ascent to Olympus Zeus watching from above took his actions as an insult Zeus would then send a gadfly to sting Pegasus causing him to buck and bellerophon to be thrown off falling back down to earth where he belonged pegasus eventually recovered and continued his journey to Olympus where he will be greeted and welcomed by Zeus
👉👉👉 he was then given the job of carrying Zeus's Thunderbolts across the sky Bellerophon however did not share the same fate in some stories The Fool down to earth killed him which in this case oddly enough seems to be the happy ending in other stories the fall merely crippled him leaving him barely able to walk he was cursed to roam the earth for eternity a shell of the man that he used to be hated by both mortals and gods alike he was no longer the Slayer of monsters he was Bellerophon than nobody the living example of what happened to those who let their hubris dictate their action the great hero that once was was no longer the tales of Bellerophon arguably paved the way for many of the Greek heroes that followed the story of Heracles performing labors to earn his Redemption is honestly very similar if not the exact same as Bellerophon's journey as the years past tales of Bellerophon was slowly phased out and replaced by the likes of Perseus many of us today many of us today when we think of a hero riding Pegasus will immediately think of Perseus and it's this fading memory of a once great hero that makes better off on a tragic hero everybody seems to enjoy a good rise and fall story but I think the reason I enjoy Bellerophon's story is because of how human it is the gods and goddesses are often presented as flawed and the heroes of Greek mythology are really no different it's quite an easy story to it's quite an easy story to relate to obviously not in terms of flying around on the horse killing monsters and dropping boulders on people but in terms of how we handle Fame and success the story serves as a reminder to the importance of humbleness and humility not being overcome by our own arrogance almost the idea of knowing your capabilities and place in society but then again like Bellerophon we should always be challenging these things you never really know your limits capabilities and even your place in society until you challenge them regardless if the outcome is positive or negative we can make mistakes and even do bad things and choose to learn from them and ultimately better ourselves or like Bellerophon we can start off with good intentions and end up losing ourselves and that is when you fall the hardest if you have any thoughts on Bellerophon's story that you like to share
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What is Bellerophon known for?
What happened to Bellerophon?
How did Bellerophon get Pegasus?
Who was Pegasus in Greek mythology?
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