Greek:
This mythical beast most commonly has the head of a lion, the body of a she-goat and the tail of a serpent, this being symbolic of a volcanic mountain in Lycia upon whose top resorted lions, the middle goats, and the bottom serpents. Sometime’s it has been written that the Chimera has 3 heads.
It, like Cerberus, was the offspring of Echinda and Typhon, themselves being monsters. Echinda had the top half of a women and the lower half of a snake and Typhon being a giant.
The Chimera was said to be able to breath fire and in Greek texts, terrorised the landscape of Lycia (in Asia Minor). This is where is was killed, by the Corinthian hero Belleraphone, while a was on the winged horse Pegasus.
On another note, some texts say that the Chimera is the offspring of the Hydra, and others cite the Chimera as the mother of the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion by Orthus.
The myths of the Chimera can be found in Apollodorous' Library (book 1), Vrigil's Aeneid (book 6), Homer's Iliad (book 6), Ovid's Metamorphoses (book 4) and Hesiod's Theogony.
Final Fantasy 8
Chimera is a strong world map monster. Has the tail of a serpant one head of a Lion, one of an Eagle, one of a Toad and the last as a Goat. |