Bellerophon  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Related e

Wikipedia Wiktionary Shop Featured: Rhombicuboctahedron by Leonardo da Vinci

Bellerophon (βελλεροφῶν) or Bellerophontes (βελλεροφόντης) was a hero of Greek mythology, "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside of Kadmos and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", whose greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame".

In popular culture

• The first planet discovered orbiting a Sun-like star, 51 Pegasi b, has been unofficially nicknamed 'Bellerophon'.
• Chimera, the 1972 National Book Award-winning novel by John Barth, includes a novella called Bellerophoniad that is a complex postmodern retelling and examination of the myth of Bellerophon.
• In The Concept of Anxiety, Søren Kierkegaard wrote that Bellerophon "sat calmly on his Pegasus in the service of the idea but fell when he wanted to misuse Pegasus by riding the horse to a rendezvous with a mortal woman."
• The classical opera seria Il Bellerofonte of the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček, premiered in Naples, 1767; its libretto by Giuseppe Bonecchi focused on the passion of the queen Antea.
• Bellerophon is a computer program used by geneticists and molecular biologists to detect invalid "chimera" genetic sequences.
• Bellerophon was also the name of four or more Royal Navy warships, the first of which fought many naval battles against Napoleon. HMS Bellerphon’s keel was laid down in 1782, she was launched in 1792 and broken up in 1836. Napoleon surrendered and was taken aboard the Bellerophon after his defeat at Waterloo. Known as "Billy Ruffian" by the crew, the 74 gun warship fought at the Battle of the Nile (1798) and Battle of Trafalgar (1805). The second HMS Bellerophon was an early battleship, renamed Indus III in 1904 and used for training, then sold in 1922. The third HMS Bellerophon was the lead ship of a three-ship class, which were a follow up to HMS Dreadnought; she fought at the Battle of Jutland. For other ships of the same name, see HMS Bellerophon.
• The USS Bellerophon (ARL-31) was one of 41 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
• A large statue of Bellerophon taming Pegasus graces the facade of the Columbia Law School in Manhattan.
• Bellerophon astride Pegasus, as the first airborne warrior, is the traditional symbol of British Airborne forces.
• 'Bellerophon' is the name of a spacecraft in each of: the 1956 movie, Forbidden Planet; the TV series Andromeda; and the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 'Bellerophon' was also the name of a character on the series Xena: Warrior Princess and the name of a planet in the series Firefly.
• 'Bellerophon' is used as a name for a cure to the fictional virus 'Chimera' in Mission Impossible II.