A great fire-breathing creature with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail, the Chimera (Chimaera), was ravaging the country of Lycia.  The Chimera would fly above the cities and blast them with streams of fire. The goddess Athene gave Bellerophon a magic golden bridle with which to capture Pegasus so that the flying horse might take him to Lycia to destroy the monster. The Chimera tried to hide from Bellerophon in a dark cloud but Pegasus soon overtook the creature.  While the great horse dodged the blasts of fire emitting from the Chimera, Bellerophion fired many arrows and shot the monster down in flames.  Pegasus then flew to Olympus and served Zeus by carrying his thunderbolts.