In the myth of Proitos, Stheneboia, and Bellerophon, Bellerophon is the Hero, while Pegasus is his Ally. Proitos and Iobates both serve as the Heralds, while Polyeidos and Athena serve as Mentors. The Threshold Guardians include the Chimera, the Solymi tribe, the Amazons, and Iobates’ army. The Shadow is Stheneboia. All these characters possess qualities of their own which impact the story in different ways.
Bellerophon is unique in the story because he is the main hero. He is a demigod, the son of Poseidon and the mortal Eurynome, raised by the mortal king of Corinth Glaucus (THEOI, n.d.). He is also favored by the gods and has their aid, which helped him completed all of the tasks that had been given to him by Iobates. Bellerophon, in the beginning of the story, is a humble and honorable man, which is why he refuses Sthenoboia’s advances due to not wanting to violate the rules of marriage. He is a strong warrior, able to defeat the Chimera along with the Solymi tribe, the Amazons, and even Iobates’ whole army. He also bonds with his horse Pegasus, possibly helped by his status as son of Poseidon. He is a forgiving man, which is why makes peace with Iobates despite the king’s many attempts to kill him. After Iobates gives him his daughter Philonoe in marriage and half his kingdom, Bellerophon becomes a loved and honored king with two sons: Isander and Hippolochus and two daughters Laodaemia and Deidameia. However, Bellerophon later becomes arrogant, believing that he is equal to the gods and should be like them. His attempt to fly to Olympus with Pegasus ruins his life as he is punished by Zeus, becoming blind and crippled after falling off his horse (Bellerophon, 2018). Thus, Bellerophon warns against hubris and believing you are better than the gods.
Pegasus serves as Bellerophon’s Ally, as the horse is an indispensable companion to the hero and saves his life many times. Pegasus’ ability to fly allows Bellerophon to get above his enemies and thus avoid their attacks and keep himself safe. It also allows him to attack his enemies from the top and defeat them. However, Pegasus leaves Bellerophon after he tries to fly to Olympus, and becomes a pack horse for Zeus’ thunderbolts (THEOI, 2017).
Proitos and Iobates are the Heralds. Proitos, King of Tiryns sets Bellerophon’s quest in motion by sending him to King Iobates of Lycia with a letter ordering the hero’s death. Proitos is acting in a way that he thinks will protect his wife from an alleged adulterer, which shows his devotion to her. Iobates later sends the young hero in these quests to try and kill him (Buxton, 2004, p. 160). Proitos and Iobates both did not want to outrightly punish their guest Bellerophon for his supposed seduction of Stheneboia, as by doing so they would incur the wrath of the Furies. This shows that they both honor the rules. Instead, they both sent the hero away: the former to Iobates with an order to kill the hero and the latter to kill the Chimera and do other tasks for him afterwards. Iobates likely viewed Bellerophon as expendable, as he risked the hero’s lives many times, and the tasks he had given were deemed to be impossible. He even betrays Bellerophon after he had vanquished the Amazons, sending his army after the hero on an ambush, but Bellerophon manages to kill them to the last man. Finally, Iobates makes peace with Bellerophon and gives him his daughter’s hand in marriage (THEOI, n.d.). Iobates may be seen as treacherous due to his attempt to kill Bellerophon despite the hero having completed many tasks for him. However, he is also a negotiator and rational as he makes peace with Bellerophon after his army is destroyed, seeing that the young hero is favored by the gods.
There are two mentors in the story: the first is the seer Polyeidos from Corinth, who advises the hero Bellerophon on how to kill the Chimera. The seer tells Bellerophon to claim Pegasus by sleeping in the temple of Athena. Athena appears to the hero in a dream, giving him a golden bridle to tame Pegasus with and telling him to sacrifice to Poseidon and go to a well. This makes her the second mentor as she is also guiding the hero in his quest. She views Bellerophon as a hero worthy of her help, despite her rocky relationship with his father Poseidon. After this, Polyeidos advises the hero to approach the Pirene well in Corinth, Bellerophon’s home city. The hero made a sacrifice to Poseidon, before approaching the Pegasus and taming him using the golden bridle given to him by Athena. Polyeidos is unique in the story for being able to see the future. He is also a Corinthian like Bellerophon (THEOI, 2017).
There are many Threshold Guardians in the myth who test the hero. The first could arguably be Pegasus, as Bellerophon has to tame the animal first before he can go on any quests with it. After this, he goes with Pegasus to slay the Chimera. It was the equal of any monster faced by other Greek heroes like Jason or Herakles, a hideous hybrid with the head of a lion, a serpent at its rear and a fire-breathing goat in its middle. The Chimera terrorized the local countryside. However, the monster is killed by Bellerophon when he drops a piece of led on its mouth, thus causing it to suffocate after the lead is melted (THEOI, n.d.). After this, Bellerophon faces the neighbouring Solymi tribe, which was Iobates’ traditional enemy. Bellerophon later bests the Amazons, throwing stones on them while on the air with Pegasus (See, 2014, p. 160). Finally, Iobates’ sends his whole army after Bellerophon, making them the last Threshold Guardians, but they are all slain by the hero. These villains test the hero and his skills greatly, but none of them are the shadow as they are not the hero’s main obstacle and did not cause him to go on his dangerous quests.
This story does not have a traditional monster-like or supernatural Shadow like other Greek myths such as Perseus or Herakles. However, it does have a main villain who is in control of the story and uses the hero, and thus can be classified as a shadow. In the beginning of the story, Stheneboia, wife of Proitos and daughter of Iobates, tempts Bellerophon into entering a relationship with her, encouraging him to do the wrong thing. However, Bellerophon refuses, causing Stheneboia to get angry with him and lie to her husband about him seducing her (Buxton, 2004, p. 160). Thus, Stheneboia was the one who set Bellerophon’s whole dangerous quest in motion. Stheneboia is an adulteress as she was already married to Proitos, and also a liar due to her false claims to Proitos about Bellerophon. She awaits Bellerophon’s death in the quests that he undertakes, but he is able to complete them with the help of the gods and his horse Pegasus, so her plan ultimately fails. She dies unrepentant at what she had done once Bellerophon returns to Tiryns, either by suicide at finding out about the hero’s marriage to her sister as she feared the exposure of her false allegations, or killed in vengeance by Bellerophon (Buxton, 2004, p. 161).
The final archetype, which is that of the Innocent, is not really present in the story, as Bellerophon doesn’t save any named people during his quests. Therefore, no one can be assigned this role. However, he does save the people of Lycia from the Chimera and also from the rival Solymi tribe.
Bellerophon has some parallels to Herakles, because he completed a number of difficult and dangerous tasks which would likely have been impossible for any regular mortal, although he did not complete as many as Herakles. Bellerophon killed the Chimera and faced down armies of Solymi, Amazons and even Proitos’ army with just himself and the flying horse Pegasus. This mirrors the many monsters and enemies that Herakles had to face, such as the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, the Cretan Bull, the Amazons, and many others. Bellerophon also had to face the Amazons just like Herakles, with both heroes managing to defeat the female warriors. Bellerophon had also been unwelcomed by Iobates and had been sent by the king on an apparently hopeless quest, just like Herakles with Eurystheus, and their respective suitors were unwilling to credit their achievements and gave them further tasks to complete. Like Herakles with his family, Bellerophon had accidentally committed murder and attempted to purify himself from it: in this case, it was his brother who was named Deliades, Peiren, or Alcimenes. Both heroes were aided by Athena. The two hero’s lives, although originally happy, were beset by tragedy and later ended with or by it, in part due to the hero’s fault. In Bellerophon’s case, his arrogance and attempt to fly to Mount Olympus caused him to be punished by Zeus, being forced to wander the earth as a crippled outcast, while Herakles’ unfaithfulness to his wife Deianeira caused her to accidentally kill him by giving him a poisoned blanket that she thought would make him faithful to her again.
This concludes the main characters of Bellerophon’s myth along with their qualities and the archetypes which they represent.
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