Zeus & The Tale of Bellerophon & Pegasus

This tale describes the life of a prince named Bellerophon, and all the misfortune he encounters. It starts with the accidental killing of his brother, then his noble resistence to Queen Anteia's sexual actions, and finally with the King Iobates sending him too a sure death against the Chimaera. Eventually he overcomes all the odds, and happily lives in Lycia with the daughter of King Iobates, due to his good morals and the help of the winged horse, Pegasus. Yet one day his own ego overcomes him, and he attempts to reach the heavens, although he is easily exiled by Jupitor and lives the rest of his life in shame.

Many key values are portrayd in this story as wel as some less appealing characteristics. The first and probably most important is honesty. Although he suffered many maltreatments from his people, Anteia, Iobates, and many others, Bellerophon never forgets his ideals and constantly preserves his pure way of living. For example, he does not conform with Antiea's requests, and he never reads the letter he was informed to give to King Iobates. In the end, it was because of these virtues that Goddes Minerva presented him Pegasus, wihtout whom it woukd have been impossible to have defeated the Chimaera. A key character to Bellerophon's tale is Jupitor. Although Jupitor is supposedly a perfect god, he still has feeling of hatred when he knows that Bellerophon feels he is worthy of living in the heavens. This was a representation of human-like characteristics of gods in Greek texts. This also explained how lightning was created. The science of that day could not explaine electricity let alone lightning, therefore this was how the Greeks explained this natural phenomenon. The story also teaches readers or listeners that humility is critical, and that even after you accomplish something great you must still be humble and respect your surroundings. Bellerophon became caught up in his own success that he felt he could live at Mt. Olympus, yet his misjudgemnt lead to him living the rest of his life in a much lower light than when he began.