BELLEROPHON

(Gr. ^iXU^txpovm;; called also Hippo no us.) In the fabulous history of Argos, the son of Glaucus, and grandson of Sisyphus {Pans. 2. 4.), who was obliged to flee from Corinth for the murder of Bellerus, and seek refuge at the court of Proetus. There Antasa, the wife of Proetus, conceived a violent attachment for him, which he requited as Joseph did the advances of Potiphar's wife. Nor does the analogy between the cases end here; for Antsea forthwith accused him to her husband of attempts on her virtue. Proetus, however, unwilling to violate the laws of hospitality, sent him to To bates, king of Lycia, his wife's father, with a letter desiring him to put Bellerophon to death, and mentioning the cause. (Hence, a letter unfavourable to the bearer was called " Literae Bellerophontis.") "With this view, To bates sent him on various perilous expeditions: first, against the Chimaera, a dreadful monster, which continually vomited flames (Lucre, v. 902.; Virg. Mn. vi. 288. vii. 785.), and which at that time devastated the country of Lycia, having the head of a lion, the middle of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. {Ovid. Met. ix. 646.) This monster, however, Bellerophon succeeded in destroying by the aid of a winged horse called Pegasus {see Pegasus), which he had caught while drinking at the fountain Pirene in Corinth. In his next expeditions against the Solymi and the Amazons, he was equally succe ful {Horn. II. vi. 155.), and consequently obtained the forgivene of To bates. Elated by his succe , Bellerophon tried to fly to heaven on Pegasus; but Jupiter, enraged at his presumption, frustrated his attempts by sending an' insect (oestrum) which stung the horse so violently that he became restive and threw his rider. Though maimed and shattered by the fall, Bellerophon was not killed; but he never perfectly recovered, and continued during the rest of his life to wander up and down in sorrow and dejection. {Horn. II. vi. 201.) Bellerophon, we may add, was celebrated for his skill in horsemanship {llor. Od. iii. 12. 7.), and is said to have flrst taught the art of riding. {Plin. iv. 56.) Bellb'rophon. A fo il shell, the animal of which was probably allied to that of urgonauta. The genus belongs to the carboniferous and older strata. [s. 153]