ChimeraChimera is the Greek word for she-goat.The Chimera is most famous for being a specific female fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon or serpent's tail. The Chimera's tail is often the front part of a serpent including the head. |
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Occasionally the front of the Chimera is said to have three heads: the head of a lion, goat, and serpent, but the original myth described it with only the head of a lion. The Chimera was defeated by Bellerophon, a hero given difficult chores by King Lobates. The Chimera's parents are usually said to be Echinda and Typhon, but other sources have claimed the Chimera to be the offspring of the Hydra. Some sources say the Chimera is the mother of the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion. Three myths of the Chimera can be found in Apollodorous' Library, Vrigil's Aeneid, Homer's Iliad, Ovid's Metamorphoses and Hesiod's Theogony. Dungeons and Dragons describes chimeras as having dragon wings, a lion body with the hind legs of a goat, and three heads in front of a lion, goat, and dragon. Some of the dragon heads of these chimeras breathe fire, but not all. In Dragon Quest, chimeras are giant fire-breathing vultures. It was translated as a wyvern for the US release. The word, chimera is now often used to mean a grotesque product of the imagination. |
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| Copyright © 2000-2001 James Gray |