Bellerophon is a Greek hero famed for taming Pegasus and killing the Chimera. His story survives in several ancient works whose details do not always agree. He should not be confused with Perseus, who is connected with Pegasus in a different way in later art and storytelling.
The dangerous letter
After a killing that requires purification, Bellerophon reaches the court of Proetus. The king’s wife, called Anteia or Stheneboea, accuses the hero after he rejects her approach. Proetus sends him to King Iobates in Lycia with a sealed message asking for the bearer to be killed. Bound by hospitality, Iobates assigns deadly tasks instead.
The greatest task is the Chimera, a fire-breathing creature described with lion, goat, and serpent features. Bellerophon attacks from Pegasus. Later accounts add a lead-tipped weapon melted by the creature’s breath, but Homer does not give that mechanism.
Victory and fall
Bellerophon also fights the Solymi and the Amazons, then survives an ambush. Iobates finally recognizes divine favor and honors him. Yet the Iliad later shows the hero wandering alone, hated by the gods. Later authors explain his fall through an attempt to ride Pegasus to Olympus. Zeus sends a gadfly or causes the horse to throw him.
For other heroes tested by dangerous tasks, compare Atalanta and Daedalus and Icarus. Their source traditions also preserve meaningful differences.