CHIMERA, in Grecian Fable, a celebrated three-headed monster, sprung from Echidna and Typhon. The fore part of its body was that of a lion, the middle that of a goat, and the hinder part that of a dragon. It is generally depicted as vomiting forth flames; hence Horace—
"Tremenda
Flamma Chimera."
This monster inhabited Lycia in the reign of Iobates, by whose orders Bellerophon, mounted on the horse Pegasus, overcame it.
The origin of the fable is most probably connected with the volcano of this name in Lycia, the summit of which was a desolate wilderness and the resort of lions; the middle fruitful and covered with goats; while the marshy ground at the bottom abounded with serpents. Bellerophon is said to have conquered the chimera because he destroyed the wild beasts on that mountain, and rendered it habitable. Plutarch refers it to some pirates who adorned their ships with the images of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. From this fable is derived the term chimera applied figuratively to any wild or incongruous fancy arising in the mind.