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This article is about mythological creature. For other uses, see Chimera.
Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, ca 350-340 BCE (Musée du Louvre)
Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, ca 350-340 BCE (Musée du Louvre)

In Greek mythology, Chimera (Greek Χίμαιρα (Chímaira); Latin Chimaera) is a monstrous creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, which was made of the parts of multiple animals. Apulia ( Italian: Puglia) is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east the Ionian Sea The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. "Sidyma" redirects here For the Moth Genus named thus see Sidyma (moth. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. In Greek mythology, Typhon ( Ancient Greek:, Tuphōn) also Typheus / Typhoeus ( Tuphōeus) Typhaon ( In the most ancient layers of Greek mythology Echidna (Greek Ἔχιδνα ( ekhis (ἔχις meaning "she viper" was In Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos ( Greek Κέρβερος Kérberos) the ker or Daimon of In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra ( Greek: ( was an ancient nameless serpent -like Chthonic water beast that possessed numerous

Contents

Description

Homer's brief description in the Iliad[1] is the earliest surviving literary reference: "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle,[2] and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient [3] Hesiod's Theogony follows the Homeric description: he makes Chimera the issue of Echidna: "She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies In the most ancient layers of Greek mythology Echidna (Greek Ἔχιδνα ( ekhis (ἔχις meaning "she viper" was Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slay"[4] The author of Bibliotheke concurs:[5] descriptions agree that it breathed fire. The Bibliotheca (in English: Library) in three books provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic Legends Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. Chimera is generally considered to have been female (see the quotation from Hesiod above) despite the mane adorning its lion's head. Sighting Chimera was an omen of storms, shipwrecks, and natural disasters (particularly volcanoes). A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface and strongly implying Severe weather. A shipwreck can refer to a wrecked ship or to the event that caused the wreck such as the striking of something that causes the ship to sink the stranding of the ship on rocks A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the

While there are different genealogies, in one version Chimera mated with her brother Orthrus and mothered the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion (others have Orthrus and their mother, Echidna, mating; most attribute all to Typhon and Echidna). Genealogy (from Greek: el γενεά el-Latn genea, "descent" and el λόγος el-Latn logos, "knowledge" is the study of For the genus of Jumping spiders, see Orthrus. In Greek mythology, Orthrus (also called Orthros, Orthos A Sphinx is a Zoomorphic mythological figure which is depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head The Nemean lion ( Modern Greek: Λέων της Νεμέας (Léōn tēs Neméas Latin: Leo Nemaeus was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived

Chimera was finally defeated by Bellerophon, with the help of Pegasus, at the command of King Iobates of Lycia. Bellerophon (βελλεροφῶν or Bellerophontes (βελλεροφόντης was a Hero of Greek mythology, "the greatest hero and In Greek mythology, Pegasus ( Greek: Πήγασος, Pégasos, 'strong' was a winged horse that was the son of Poseidon, in his role In Greek mythology, Iobates (Ἰοβάτης was a Lycian king the father of Antea and Philonoe. "Sidyma" redirects here For the Moth Genus named thus see Sidyma (moth. Since Pegasus could fly, Bellerophon shot Chimera from the air, safe from her heads and breath. [6] A scholiast to Homer adds that he finished her off by equipping his spear with a lump of lead that melted when exposed to Chimera's fiery breath and consequently killed her, an image drawn from metalworking. A scholium, plural scholia (σχόλιον "comment" "lecture" is a grammatical, critical or explanatory comment either original or extracted [7]

The Chimera motif

Gold reel, possibly an ear-stud, with winged Pegasus (outer band) and the Chimera (inner band), Magna Graecia or Etruria, 4th century BCE (Louvre)
Gold reel, possibly an ear-stud, with winged Pegasus (outer band) and the Chimera (inner band), Magna Graecia or Etruria, 4th century BCE (Louvre)

Chimera was placed in foreign Lycia,[8] but its representation in the arts was wholly Greek. In Greek mythology, Pegasus ( Greek: Πήγασος, Pégasos, 'strong' was a winged horse that was the son of Poseidon, in his role Etruria &mdash usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia &mdash was a region of Central Italy, located in an area The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France [9] An autonomous tradition, one that did not rely on the written word, was represented in the visual repertory of the Greek vase-painters. Chimera first appears at an early stage in the proto-Corinthian pottery-painters' repertory, providing some of the earliest identifiable mythological scenes that can be recognized in Greek art. Thanks to its hardy nature pottery bulks large in the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because we have so much of it (some 100000 vases are recorded in the Corpus The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present particularly in the areas of Sculpture The Corinthian type is fixed, after some early hesitation, in the 670s BCE; the variations in the pictorial representations suggest to Marilyn Low Schmitt[10]a multiple origin. The fascination with the monstrous devolved by the end of the seventh century into a decorative Chimera-motif in Corinth,[11] while the motif of Bellerophon on Pegasus took on a separate existence alone. A separate Attic tradition, where the goats breathe fire and the animal's rear is serpent-like, begins with such confidence that Marilyn Low Schmitt is convinced there must be unrecognized earlier local prototypes. Two vase-painters employed the motif so consistently they are given the pseudonyms the Bellerophon Painter and the Chimaera Painter.

In Etruscan civilization, the Chimera appears in the "Orientalizing" period that precedes Etruscan Archaic art; that is to say, very early indeed. Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy The Chimera appears in Etruscan wall-paintings of the fourth century BCE.

Robert Graves suggests[12] that "the Chimaera was, apparently, a calendar-symbol of the tripartite year, of which the seasonal emblems were lion, goat and serpent. Robert Graves (24 July 1895 &ndash 7 December 1985 was an English Poet, Translator and Novelist. "

In Medieval art, though the Chimera of Antiquity was forgotten, chimerical figures appear as embodiments of the deceptive, even Satanic forces of raw nature. Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally Provided with a human face and a scaly tail, as in Dante's vision of Geryon in Inferno xvii. In Greek mythology, Geryon ( Geryones, Geyron) son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa was a fearsome 7-17, 25-27, hybrid monsters, actually more akin to the Manticore of Pliny's Natural History (viii. The manticore is a Legendary creature similar to the Egyptian Sphinx. Naturalis Historia ( Latin for "Natural History" is an Encyclopedia written Circa AD 77 by Pliny the Elder. 90), provided iconic representations of hypocrisy and fraud well into the seventeenth century, through an emblemmatic representation in Cesare Ripa's Iconologia. Cesare Ripa (died 1622 was an Italian aesthetician and author of the Iconologia (or in full Iconologia overo Descrittione Dell’imagini Universali [13]

In more recent times, the term "chimera" has been used to describe real-life entities created as amalgams of previously separate entities in fields such as botany (see chimera (plant)), genetics (see chimera (genetics)), and molecular biology (see chimera (protein)). Chimeras (or "chimaeras" in Botany are usually single organisms composed of two genetically different types of tissue In Zoology, a chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different Zygotes if the Fusion proteins, also known as chimeric proteins, are proteins created through the joining of two or more Genes which originally coded for separate proteins Chimeras also surface in the Harry Potter books, and the manga and anime versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly (anime in Japanese, commonly abbreviated as FMA or Hagaren, is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa.

Classical sources

"Chimera of Arezzo": an Etruscan bronze
"Chimera of Arezzo": an Etruscan bronze

The myths of Chimera can be found in Apollodorous' Library (book 1), Homer's Iliad (book 6); Hyginus Fabulae 57; Ovid's Metamorphoses (book VI 339; IX 648) and Hesiod's Theogony 319ff. The bronze " Chimera of Arezzo " is one of the best known examples of the art of the Etruscans. Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy The Bibliotheca (in English: Library) in three books provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic Legends Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Gaius Julius Hyginus (ca 64 BC &ndash AD 17 was a Latin author but whether a native of Spain or of Alexandria is not sure a pupil of the famous Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD was a Roman poet known to the English -speaking world as Ovid who wrote on many topics including The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies

Virgil, in the Aeneid (book 5) employs Chimaera for the name of Gyas' gigantic ship in the ship-race, with possible allegorical significance in contemporary Roman politics. Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in Bletia is a Genus of about 30 Species of Orchids ( family Orchidaceae almost of all of which are terrestrial some are occasionally [14]

Theory about origin

See main article: Chimaera (geography)

"Even in antiquity the Chimaera was regarded as a symbol of the volcanic character of the Lycian soil," Harry Thurston Peck noted. Yanartaş, anciently Chimaera, is the name of a geographical feature near Olympos valley and National park in Antalya Province in southwestern (Peck 1898). Ctesias (as cited by Pliny the Elder and quoted by Photius) identified Chimaera with an area of permanent gas vents which can still be found today by hikers on the Lycian Way in southwest Turkey. Ctesias of Cnidus ( Greek) was a Greek Physician and Historian from Cnidus in Caria. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author The Lycian Way is a long-distance footpath in Turkey, researched by Kate Clow. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Called in Turkish Yanartaş (flaming rock), it consists of some two dozen vents in the ground, grouped in two patches on the hillside above the Temple of Hephaestus about 3 km north of Çıralı, near ancient Olympos, in Lycia. Hephaestus (hɨˈfiːstəs or /hɨˈfɛstəs/ Greek Hēphaistos) was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. Çıralı is an agricultural Village in the southwest of Turkey in Antalya Province. Olympos is a common variation of Olympus. This article refers to a National Park in Turkey "Sidyma" redirects here For the Moth Genus named thus see Sidyma (moth. The vents emit burning methane thought to be of metamorphic origin, which in ancient times sailors could navigate by, and which today the custodian uses to brew tea. Methane is a Chemical compound with the molecular formula. It is the simplest Alkane, and the principal component of Natural gas. Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type the protolith, in a process called Metamorphism, which means "change Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market (Strabo held Chimaera to be a ravine on a different mountain in Lycia. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. ) [1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Iliad VI. 179-182
  2. ^ Chimaira designated a young goat that had seen but one winter. (Kerenyi 1959:82.
  3. ^ In Richmond Lattimore's translation. Richmond Alexander Lattimore ( May 6, 1906 - February 26, 1984) was an American Poet and Translator known for
  4. ^ Hesiod Theogony 319ff in Hugh Evelyn-White's translation.
  5. ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliothekeii. 3. 2: "it had the fore part of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and its third head, the middle one, was that of a goat, through which it belched fire. And it devastated the country and harried the cattle; for it was a single creature with the power of three beasts. It is said, too, that this Chimera was bred by Amisodarus, as Homer also affirms,3 and that it was begotten by Typhon on Echidna, as Hesiod relates"
  6. ^ So Pindar: Olympian odes, 13,87; pseudo-Apollodorus 2, 3,2; Hesiod, Theogony 319 ff. Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Theogony ( Greek: Θεογονία theogonia = the birth of God(s is a Poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies
  7. ^ Graves, section 75, note
  8. ^ Homer, Iliad xvi. 328, links its breeding to the Trojan ally Amisodarus of Lycia, as a plague for men.
  9. ^ Anne Roes "The Representation of the Chimaera" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 54. 1 (1934), pp. 21-25, adduces Ancient Near Eastern conventions of winged animals who wings end in animal heads.
  10. ^ This outline of Chimera motif follows Marilyn Low Schmitt, "Bellerophon and the Chimaera in Archaic Greek Art" American Journal of Archaeology 70. 4 (October 1966), pp. 341-347.
  11. ^ Later coins struck at Sicyon, near Corinth, bear the chimera-motif. For the modern municipality see Sikyona. Sicyon (Σικυών was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus (Schmitt 1966:344 note.
  12. ^ Graves 1960:sect. 34. 2.
  13. ^ John F. Moffitt, "An Exemplary Humanist Hybrid: Vasari's "Fraude" with Reference to Bronzino's 'Sphinx'" Renaissance Quarterly 49. 2 (Summer 1996), pp. 303-333, traces the chimeric image of Fraud backwards from Bronzino. Agnolo di Cosimo ( November 17, 1503 &ndash November 23, 1572) usually known as Il Bronzino, or Agnolo Bronzino (mistaken
  14. ^ W. S. M. Nicoll, "Chasing Chimaeras" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 35. 1 (1985), pp. 134-139.

References

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