Chimera (creature)In Greek Mythology, the Chimera or Chimaera
was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Descriptions
vary–some say it had the body of a goat, the hindquarters of a
snake or dragon and the head of a lion, though others say it had
heads of both the goat and lion, with a snake for a tail. All
descriptions, however, agree that it breathed fire from one or
more of its heads. The Chimera was finally defeated by
Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus, the winged horse, at the
command of King Iobates of Lycia. There are varying descriptions
of its death–some say merely that Bellerophon ran it through on
his spear, whereas others say that he fitted his spear point
with lead that melted when exposed to the Chimera's fiery breath
and consquently killed it. The term "chimera" is often used
metaphorically to describe things that have combined attributes
from different sources. In genetics, for example, an organism or
tissue created from two or more different genetic sources is
called a chimera, as in t