--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel J. Milton <dmilt1896@...>"
<dmilt1896@...> wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "mrcaws <MrCaws@...>"
<MrCaws@...>
> wrote:
>
> > As for the chimera, I have my pet theory-One etymology given for
> > chimera is she-goat. My theory is that Chimera was a local
divinity
> > or monster of some kind identified with she-goat.
> >
> > Cort Williams
>
> It's more than an etymology. The word for a young she-goat
> (etymologically at least, a year-old one) and the name of a
> fire-breathing monster (partly goat, but as much lion and serpent)
are
> identical. This would be seem to the kind of oddity that ancient
> mythographers would comment on. I can't find any such reference --
> anyone else know one?
> Dan Milton
Yes, here are a couple of quotes from Hyginus
"Iobates was reluctant to kill the hero [Bellerophon], but sent him
to kill the Chimaera, a three-formed creature said to breathe forth
fire. Likewise: forepart lion, rearpart snake, middle she-goat. This
he slew, riding on Pegasus, and he is said to have fallen in the
Aleian plains and to have dislocated his hip." Hyginus Fabulae 57
"The Chimaera in Lykia which had the fore-part of a lion, the hind
part of a snake, while the she-goat itself formed the middle." -
Hyginus Fab 151
Got the quotes at:
http://www.theoi.com/Tartaros/Khimaira.html
The bottom comment, if translated properly, indicates that the
chimera was identified with the she-goat at least by Hyginus.
Chimera, like the Solymi, was connected with Lycia. Bellerophon's
encounters with he Solymi and Amazons seem to have been based on
pseudo-historical circumstances, told from a particular slant(pro
Greek). The Chimera was not. However, having a Greek hero slaying the
local god/monster is a nice little piece of political propaganda in
its own right.
Antoher hero whose exploits seem to serve political purposes, and to
make reference to old/different religious practice, was Theseus.
Theseus killed Phaedra, a giant sow. Or in another version of the
story a witch who owned a giant sow. So, my hypothesis is that both
Chimera and Phaedra were local dieties/demons identified with
praticular(taboo?) animals. Having a national hero come in and defeat
them is a clever way of simultaneously discrediting local beliefs and
aggrandizing Greek culture. Or, for a less political interpretation,
local folklore has a way of asserting itself into larger mythological
canon one way or another
Cort Williams
BTW A definition Chimera
chimera or chimaera \ki'mira, -me- also ka\ n -s[L chimaera, fr. Gk
chimaira chimera, she-goat; akin to ON gymbr yearling ewe, L bimus
two years (winter) old, hiems winter more at HIBERNATE] 1 a usu
cap : a she-monster in Greek mythology represented as vomiting flames
and usu as having a lion's head, goat's body, and dragon's or
serpent's tail or a lion's body and head together with a goat's head
together with a goat's head rising from the back compare GRYLLUS
b : a similar imaginary monster; specif : a grotesque animal form in
painting or sculpture compounded from parts of different real or
imaginary animals c : a horrible or frightening manifestation d : an
often fantastic combination of incongruous parts, esp : a
fabrication. 2 : an illusion or fabrication of the mind or fancy ;
esp : a utopian or unrealizable dream or aim.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged
Found the definition at
http://www.cegur.com/chimeraWhat/ChimeraWhatMain.html