B is for Bellerophon

This is a challenge to post every day in April (except on Sundays) blogging thematically from A to Z. Go HERE for details. My A-Z theme this year is Greek Mythology inspired by the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I recently read.  Please be aware that what I write is my interpretation of my findings and may not necessarily be accurate.

Bellarophon riding Pegasus 1914

Bellerophon was the son of Eurynome, wife of Glaucus, by Poseidon.  As a young lad he honored the gods and found favor with them.  Later he quested after Pegasus and sought help from the seer Polyeidus.  Through his instruction, Bellerophon was able to bring to life a dream of a magical golden bridle.  He was then able to bridle and ride Pegasus easily.  He went to King Pittheus for permission to marry his daughter, Aethra.  However, Bellerophon accidently kills a man, perhaps one of his brother and was exiled.  He then goes to King Proetus and was granted purification for his crime.  There as a guest, the King's wife, Stheneboea, made advances toward Bellerophon.  Being an honorable man, he rejected her.  Stheneboea was angered and accused Bellerophon of attempting to seduce her instead.  But the King could not harm him because this would upset the gods so he sent Bellerophon to take a sealed message to King Iobates, Stheneboea's father.  Bellerophon was received there warmly but when King Iobates read the note, he was in the same situation as unable to harm a guest in his home.  His solution was then to send Bellerophon to dangerous adventures.  Bellerophon was skillful and was able to kill the monster, Chimarea, and successfully conquer Solymi tribe (King Iobates enemies).  He was then sent to fight the Amazons and again victorious.  King Iobates desperate, sent all his army to ambush Bellerophon but were all killed.  It finally dawned on the King that the gods favored Bellerophon and so he sought amendment by giving Bellerophon half his kingdom and his daughter Philonoe to wife.  Philonoe bore him two sons and two daughters.  As king, his subject honored and loved him but it was not enough for him.  He thought he could ride Pegasus to Mount Olympus to hang out with the gods.  This of course angered Zeus and sent a gadfly to sting the horse that caused Bellerophon to fall down to earth.  There he lived his days alone and crippled until the end of his days.  The moral of the story was a lesson in proper relationship between a mortal hero and the gods.

Sources:
Greek Mythology
Wikipedia
The Iliad vi.155–203