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The Web Poetry Corner - Paul Curtis - HERO%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - BELLEROPHON

HERO%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99S OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY - BELLEROPHON

by

Paul Curtis

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 an 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 ordacity 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

NEXT?
Why don't you look at Kallista in the early Spring
by: Francis Duggan
from: Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia

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