Chimera (mythology)

(PD) Painting: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Bellerophon on the winged horse Pegasus killed the fire-breathing monster Chimera by creative use of a fact from metallurgy.

In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and with a tail looking like a lizard or serpent. It was killed by the Greek hero Bellerophon who, mounted on the winged horse Pegasus, shoved a hunk of lead in the creature's throat which melted in the fire blast, and suffocated it. The tale was recounted in different versions, sometimes in the Iliad by the bard Homer.