In Greek mythology, the chimera ("goat") is a monster defeated by the hero Bellerophon. We find references to it in ancient authors. Homer reports that this is a fire-breathing monster, "from the front it looks like a lion, has the body of a goat and the tail of a snake." Hesiod also says that the chimera spews fire, and describes her as “a terrible creature, huge, fast-footed and strong. She has three heads: one is a lion's, the other is a goat's, and the third is a serpent's, the head of a bloodthirsty dragon. " In Greek art, the chimera was usually depicted with the body of a lion, the head of a goat, and a snake's tail.
Over time, the chimera became associated with a number of creatures, "assembled" from the body parts of various animals and humans. An example of this is the description of the chimera by the 18th century researcher Coates: "A creature with the face of a beautiful girl, the front legs and chest of a lion, the body of a goat, the hind legs of a griffin, and the tail of a snake." In modern language, a chimera in a figurative sense often means an unrealistic dream or a crazy idea.
Both Homer and Hesiod believed in the divine origin of the chimera. According to Hesiod, her mother was Echidna - half girl "with burning eyes and pale cheeks", half terrible huge snake. The chimera's father was Tsifey - the youngest son of Gaia and Tartarus. Tsifei is described as a monster "higher than any of the mountains", with huge wings, fiery eyes, dragon paws and a viper's tail. The chimera had no less wonderful brothers: the guardian of the underworld, the dog Cerberus, and the two-headed dog Orth, who guarded Geryon's herds.
However, this is not the only version of the origin of the chimera. According to other sources, her father was Orth, and her mother was the many-headed Hydra. However, whatever its origin, it is undoubtedly one of the most ancient mythical monsters that constantly fought with the Olympian gods for power in the Universe.
In ancient literature, in addition to Homer and Hesiod, Euripides, Ovid and Virgil turned to the image of the chimera. In the Aeneid, the chimera appears as one of the terrible monsters that King Aeneas meets in the underworld.
Already in ancient times, some scientists tried to link its origin with the Lycian volcano Yanar. Servius, the commentator of Virgil, writes that flames burst out of the volcano's mouth, lions lived at its top, goats grazed on the slopes, and snakes nested at the foot: all this together, they say, formed the image of a monster. And Plutarch believed that the source of the myth of the chimera was pirate ships decorated with images of a snake, lion and goat.
It was believed that the chimera lived in the remote mountains of the remote Lycian province. Not a single person dared to come close to her dwelling, surrounded by the decaying carcasses of decapitated animals. The king of Lycia several times sent his troops to destroy the monster, but not a single warrior returned alive.
The son of the king of Corinth, Bellerophon, saddled the beautiful winged horse Pegasus, flew up to the monster's lair and saw on the ground a creature the size of a horse, belching fire and growling menacingly so that the air around him shook. Bellerophon struck the chimera with arrows. But it was not so easy to kill her. And then the young man threw a spear with a lead tip straight into her mouth. The fire that escaped from the throat melted the lead, it burned the insides of the chimera, and she died … From now on, her place is in the underworld. From time to time, the chimera reminds of itself with tongues of flame.
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The battle scenes with the chimera are captured on vases from Corinth and Attica. On Attic amphoras, the lion's and goat's heads of the chimera are located on opposite parts of its body and look in different directions. The famous 5th century bronze figure found in Italy depicts the chimera as a lion with a snake tail and a goat's head on its back.
In the Middle Ages, images of chimeras are often found on battle shields, in religious mosaics, in illustrations to the Bible. Francesco di Giorgio and Peter Paul Rubens dedicated paintings to the battle between Bellerophon and the Chimera. The name "Chimera" is a painting by the 19th century French artist Postav Moreau. It reflects the new meaning of this word: there is no image of a classic monster on the canvas, here it is rather the personification of nightmares and vicious desires. Moreau himself said that his work is devoted to "chimeric dreams of disaster, pain and death."
In the literature of modern times, for example, in the work of Gustave Flaubert "The Temptation of St. Anthony", a chimera "fantasy", a green-eyed creature that barks and spews fire from nostrils and conducts a conversation with the Sphinx - "reality" is depicted. The nature of the conversation symbolizes the unbreakable gap between reality and dream. In the play "The Circus of Dr. Lao" by Charles Finney, the chimera is shown as a lion with eagle wings and a dragon's tail, and the hero of the novel, Dr. Lao himself, claims that she cannot cleanse her stomach naturally and is forced to burn the remnants of food inside her body - hence the fire escaping from graze.
Probably the most famous depiction of chimeras can be seen on the facade of Notre Dame Cathedral. These are fantastic, often ugly creatures with the body of a monkey and the wings of bats, embodying human sins and evil forces. The gallery of chimeras contains figures of demons, monsters and fairy birds. The famous chimeras hide behind ledges on the upper platform at the foot of the towers and hang over the city with their teeth slightly bared.
The most famous chimera is Strix, the "night bird", a winged night demon, a half-woman, half-bird, who, according to legend, ate the blood of newborn babies. There is a popular belief that strixes poison children with their poisonous milk. The Romans were wary of these vampire-like night spirits. It is curious that chimeras and all the figures of Notre Dame have an amazing property: you cannot draw, write or take pictures around them - next to them people seem to be dead, expressionless stone statues.
Finally, from the point of view of modern psychology, the chimera personifies the "dark", subconscious side of the human being, with which the male self is fighting. Such monsters are no less important than heroes. If the subconscious is killed or brutally suppressed, even the "hero" can lose his human face, and then he, like the ambitious Bellerophon, will face divine punishment. You should be wary of the chimera and even fight with it, but you should not console yourself with the thought that it can someday be completely defeated.
Pernatiev Yuri Sergeevich. Brownies, mermaids and other mysterious creatures