Bellerophon
Bellerophon
9 min read
Hero of Greek mythology from Corinth, Bellerophon tames the winged horse Pegasus and slays the Chimera. A victim of his own hubris, he attempts to reach Olympus and is cast down to earth by Zeus.
Key Facts
- Son of Glaucus (or Poseidon in some versions), prince of Corinth in the Greek tradition
- Receives a golden bridle from Athena (or Poseidon) to tame Pegasus, the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa
- Sent to Lycia by King Proetus to carry out deadly missions; most notably kills the Chimera
- Kills the Chimera by flying above it on Pegasus and riddling it with arrows
- Punished by Zeus for attempting to ascend to Olympus; cast to the ground, he wanders alone and lame until his death
Works & Achievements
Using Athena's golden bridle, Bellerophon was the only mortal ever to tame the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa. This founding feat gave him access to the celestial realm and shaped his entire heroic career.
Bellerophon's first and greatest exploit: riding Pegasus through the air, he slew this fire-breathing hybrid monster that had terrorized Lycia. The act of deliverance won him the admiration of King Iobates and the hand of his daughter.
A warlike people of Anatolia sent against Bellerophon by Iobates to have him killed. The hero defeated them single-handedly, demonstrating exceptional valor that ultimately convinced the king of his near-divine nature.
Bellerophon was sent to battle the formidable legendary warrior women of Asia Minor. This third seemingly impossible victory definitively convinced Iobates that he was dealing with a being of extraordinary distinction.
Intoxicated by his successes, Bellerophon attempted to ride Pegasus all the way to Olympus. This act of *hubris* is paradoxically the most celebrated episode of his myth, handed down as a moral lesson on the limits of the human condition.
Anecdotes
In the Iliad, Bellerophon is presented as the grandson of Sisyphus, famed for his cunning, and the supposed son of Glaucus, king of Corinth. But the most widespread tradition makes him the secret son of Poseidon, god of the sea, which accounts for his exceptional destiny. This dual lineage — human and divine — is characteristic of the great Greek heroes, poised halfway between the world of mortals and that of the gods.
To tame Pegasus, the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa, Bellerophon received guidance in a dream from Athena, goddess of wisdom. The goddess gave him a magical golden bridle with which he was able to approach the divine horse at the Pirene spring, near Corinth. This alliance between intelligence (Athena) and heroic strength is typical of Greek mythological tales.
King Proetus of Tiryns was convinced by his wife Stheneboea, who had been unjustly rebuffed by Bellerophon, to send the young hero to his death. He entrusted him with a tablet engraved with mysterious signs to deliver to King Iobates of Lycia — those signs contained an order to kill the bearer. This episode, often called the “letter of Bellerophon,” is one of the earliest references to writing in Greek literature.
The Chimera was a fire-breathing monster with a composite body: the head of a lion, the belly of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. Thanks to Pegasus, which allowed him to fight from the air, Bellerophon drove a lead-tipped spear into the flaming jaws of the beast. The heat melted the metal, suffocating the creature — a trick as worthy of the Greek heroes as any feat of brute strength.
Intoxicated by his victories over the Chimera, the Amazons, and the Solymi, Bellerophon committed the ultimate act of hubris: he attempted to fly up to Olympus on Pegasus to join the gods. Zeus, incensed by this overreach, sent a gadfly to sting the winged horse. Pegasus reared and threw his rider to the ground. Bellerophon survived but spent his remaining days alone, lame and blind, wandering the Aleian plain.
Primary Sources
Glaucus was the son of Hippolochus, and Hippolochus was the son of Bellerophon, upon whom the gods bestowed beauty and noble valor. But Proetus laid a trap for him [...] he gave him deadly tablets, with murderous signs engraved in great number on a folded tablet, and ordered him to show them to his father-in-law so that he might be put to death.
Bellerophon, seeking to capture Pegasus the winged son of the Serpent, spent the night beside the altar of the goddess [...] Athena brought him a bridle to tame horses and said: ‘Do you sleep, king of the line of Aeolus? Take this charm for horses and show it to your father Poseidon the Tamer of Horses.’
She breathed a raging fire, the terrible Chimera, great and swift, fleet-footed, with three heads — one of a blazing-eyed lion, another of a goat, the third of a serpent, a mighty dragon. A lion in front, a serpent behind, a goat in the middle, breathing the terrifying force of a blazing flame.
Bellerophon, having received a golden bridle from Athena, mounted Pegasus and flew toward the Chimera, which he slew from a distance with arrows. After defeating the Solymi and the Amazons, Iobates gave him his own daughter in marriage and half his kingdom, for he saw in him a being of superhuman abilities.
Key Places
The city of Bellerophon's origin, home to the Pirene spring at the foot of the Acrocorinth — the legendary site where he captured Pegasus using the bridle given to him by Athena. Corinth claimed him as its protective hero and the founder of its martial glory.
The kingdom of King Iobates where Bellerophon accomplished his three great feats — defeating the Chimera in the local mountains, and winning victories over the Solymi and the Amazons. The site of Yanartaş ('burning mountain') is sometimes identified as the lair of the Chimera.
The mythic peak and dwelling of the gods, toward which Bellerophon attempted to fly on Pegasus. It was in seeking to reach it that the hero committed the supreme act of hubris that brought about his downfall and his final punishment by Zeus.
The mythological place where Bellerophon wandered alone after his fall from Pegasus, lame and blind, rejected by gods and men alike. Its name means 'plain of wandering' — a symbol of the tragic fate of the hero destroyed by his own excessive pride.
The sacred spring at the foot of the citadel of Corinth where Bellerophon patiently waited to capture Pegasus as it came to drink. This place of worship was still venerated and visited in Roman times, according to Pausanias.