Chimera

Classical sources group the Chimera among the monstrous offspring of primordial monster‑parents (commonly associated with Echidna and Typhon in Hesiodic and later summaries), placing it within a generation of beings (alongside creatures like Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra) that embody disorder and threat to human communities. Homeric and later accounts treat the Chimera as an extraordinary animal of 'divine stock' rather than a human or localized spirit; the core narrative locates it in Lycia and links its defeat to the hero Bellerophon, aided by Pegasus.

Homeric and Hesiodic descriptions present a composite beast often formulated as tripartite: a lion in the fore part, a goat in the middle (often with a goat head projecting from the flank or back), and a serpent in the hind part or tail—classical formulations also emphasize that it breathes fire. Some artistic and iconographic variants introduce wings or emphasize the goat as fire‑breathing, but the canonical image remains the lion‑goat‑serpent ensemble.

Primary attributes recorded in the sources are its fire‑breathing and predatory violence: it devastated the countryside and killed cattle, being described as 'a bane to many men.' It functions narratively as an extraordinary animal menace requiring heroic martial removal. In later visionary or prophetic contexts (e.g., the Cumaean Sibyl's vision) the Chimera's image is read as an omen of communal discord or destruction rather than as a literal beast.