HERO’S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – BELLEROPHON

Bellerophon was born the son of Eurynome and the God Poseidon

And was raised by King Glaucus who thought he was his own son

Bred in Corinth as the son of the most skilled horseman of the day

He was taught by his father from a young age the equestrian way

And as an equestrian student young Bellerophon was quite precocious

And from a young boy he had yearned to ride the magic horse Pegasus

Pegasus was the immortal offspring of the Gorgon Medusa and Poseidon

The winged horse was born when Perseus cut the head off the Gorgon

Like everyone else he’d been unable to so much as approach Pegasus

But undeterred Bellerophon sought the advice of the seer Polyeidus

It was suggested that he spend the night in the temple by Athena's idol

And in a dream, the goddess came to him and gave him a golden bridle

On the next morning he found Pegasus drinking at the spring of Peirene

And slipped the bridle over his head and tamed him without difficulty

 

After his success he went to King Pittheus to seek the hand of Aethra

And Bellerophon received permission from Pittheus to marry his daughter

But before the marriage could take place, he accidentally killed a man

His punishment was banishment from Corinth after his confession

The young Bellerophon traveled in order to be purified of his sins

And was in due course absolved by King Proetus in neighboring Tiryns

The King's wife made a pass at the young hero, and when he repulsed her

She told her husband that it was Bellerophon who had tried to seduce her

Greatly upset, King Proetus feigning goodwill cloaked his indignation

And not wishing to harm his guest and violate the sacred obligation

But he contrived his revenge by asking Bellerophon to deliver a letter

On King Proetus’s behalf to his father-in-law King Iobates of Lycia

Bellerophon agreed to deliver it while not knowing the letters content

The message urged King Iobates to kill the bearer of the document

But Iobates was bound by the same strictures of hospitality as Proetus

Unable to comply he had to feast the hero and the winged Pegasus

Iobates decided that the solution to getting rid of his guest was to ask

Bellerophon on Pegasus to undertake many a n heroic and deadly task

However, the young hero Bellerophon's courage and archery skill

Combined with the winged Pegasus as a mount allowed him to prevail

In addition to his immortal parentage and his persistent sacrifices

His many acts of honor brought him the favor of Gods and Goddesses

His first task was to kill the terrible three headed fiery Chimaera

After Succeeding here, it was the Solymi tribe he was sent to conquer

The neighboring Solymi tribe were King Iobates traditional enemy

Victorious he was sent to fight the Amazons and had another victory

In desperation King Iobates laid an ambush against Bellerophon

Using his entire army and the hero again triumphed killing everyone

After this defeat Iobates realized that the Gods favored the Corinthian

And that the Gods would not show such favor to a dishonorable man

Iobates made peace with him giving him half of his kingdom of Lycia

Including the most fertile land and the hand of Philonoe his daughter

Queen Stheneboea the wife of King Proetus and the attempted seducer

Was appalled on hearing that Bellerophon had married her sister

Knowing this meant her slander would be reveled she chose suicide

It appeared that our hero would live happily ever after with his bride

They were happily married and had two sons, Hippolochus and Isander

And two daughters, Laodameia and Deidameia in the kingdom of Lycia

As King his subjects loved him, and his glorious deeds were widely sung

But all this was not enough for our arrogant hero King Bellerophon

In his arrogance King Bellerophon decided that he could ride Pegasus

To visit with the Gods and Goddesses high upon Mount Olympus

But Zeus quickly put an end to his audacity by sending the gadfly

And it stung Pegasus sending both of them tumbling down from the sky

Athena spared his life by causing him to land on a soft patch of weed

He survived the fall but was crippled and there was no sign of his steed

He wandered the earth the rest of his life alone searching for Pegasus

No man would help him because of his offense to the Gods on Olympus

After many years of searching, the magical Pegasus was never seen again

Bellerophon died with no one to record his fate in some foreign domain