Belerofonte (the winged knight)

Belerofonte was the son of a king of Corinth, a city famous for his horses, and was trained from a young age to be the best rider of his time. At sixteen he left in search of adventure, but a jealous rival tricked him into embarking on the difficult task of killing Quimera. This beast spits fire was terrorizing the countryside of Lycia, devastating population and livestock.

Belerofonte would be determined to defeat that beast, but before embarking on that mission he would consult a wise man, who said that he should pray to the goddess Athena. In a dream, the goddess spoke to Bellerophon about the existence of a gold bridle that could be used to trap the mythical winged animal called Pegasus. Upon awakening, having the bridle in his hands and with it caught Pegasus while he was drinking from a spring in the forest. He managed to control the animal thanks to the bridle and his equestrian skills.

Together they flew to the cliff ledge where Quimera was, from where he shot arrows at the beast and threw the point of his spear at his throat. The Quimera fiery breath melted the lead, which eventually suffocated her, thus succeeding in defeating the beast. After the hard victory of Belerofonte, managed to consecrate the hero of Lycia after beating the beast brought from the underworld.

After other adventures, Yóbates commissioned him to fight the solos, a warrior people that ravaged the region, and later against the Amazons, women warriors. Both missions were carried out successfully. Finally Yóbates, reconciled, offered his own daughter Philoeus, a princess of Lycia, married him and Belerofonte became king.

However, he recovered his thirst for adventure and made the mistake of trying to reach Olympus on the back of Pegasus. A furious Zeus nailed a sting at Pegasus and Belerofonte fell from Pegasus. Although Athena took pity on him and made him fall on soft ground, he wandered alone for the rest of his life, in search of Pegasus, and died like a crippled beggar.

Hello to all the steemians, to begin my journey through this wonderful page, I will start with a series of stories from Greek mythology, because I really like that kind of stories, since they are very entertaining, and at the same time you learn from different cultures that may or may not have existed on the face of the earth.