Up:: [[Story]] Created: 2022-06-17 A chimera (pronounced kai mere ah) was a fire-breathing monster from Greek mythology. It was female, with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent or dragon. Interesting that it’s female. I wonder why? Her story is that she terrorized the people of Lycia. The king of Lycia, lobates, asked the hero Bellerophon to slay the Chimera. His request wasn’t actually made for his people, but rather because his son-in-law wanted Bellerophon dead and the king was confident that the Chimera would do the job. But Bellerophon outsmarted the king by calling in [[Pegasus, the Winged Horse]] who attacked and killed the Chimera from above. Chimeric is an adjective meaning either made up of really different parts, or fanciful and imaginative. To chase a chimera means to chase a dream that has little hope of coming true. There are dozens of images of modern day Chimeras online, many of them with the head of a man. I like this one for the clarity of its parts. It’s an oil on canvas by Jacopo Ligozzi. Others of the [oldest chimera images](https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=chimera+image+oldest&client=safari&fir=IpGqzivbVN32WM%252CP1sZ6RyVTYt2rM%252C_%253B6j57tmf6lMljuM%252CBPQRKZppwkpM_M%252C_%253B81efajlLPUtpPM%252CL31smA4cnl7SpM%252C_%253BVmY3kWpX6Xrj2M%252CoRb-laVcLCnX9M%252C_%253BFb7_VQG35T8PYM%252CtdrA-4UOFh3nMM%252C_%253BIUNrONOTukgioM%252CBYhm9knfTMdnZM%252C_%253BXpaRVbBV0W2v-M%252CY6_HFXZrDxLcwM%252C_%253BEl8kyT7QNlc_EM%252CP1sZ6RyVTYt2rM%252C_%253Bw2l7xfn5GsdakM%252CoRb-laVcLCnX9M%252C_%253BrKQPchnaigYxCM%252ChqwxFzZzv0s_gM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kSYS7on2CofezwOKjV3DBSj7OGLKg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH2IXm1IX7AhWEkYkEHcxWC54Q7Al6BAgLEFA&biw=1206&bih=888&dpr=2) ![[Chimera.webp]]