Many civilizations demonstrate the same similarities in the older tales and odysseys of their Gods and Hero’s as those of modern day Saints and Knights, the same virtues of character and nobility as a role model for all to rise and emulate in nature. 

The graphical representations of Bellerophon were a popular scene to reproduce on frescos, mosaics and pottery and many examples can be found across the ancient artefacts of Lycia, now Southern Turkey. The familiar scene is of Bellerophon astride Pegasus, his winged Horse thrusting a Lance into the mouth of the monster, Chimera. The story and later paintings of St George follows the same repeated theme, arising out of Turkey, a valiant hero defeating a monster with a lance whilst on horseback, even depicting the flowing cloak in the same manner as the wings of Pegasus.

Bellerophon was a Prince and son of Glaucus, King of Corrinth, Greece. 
After a disagreement with his brother which led to his death, as a punishment, he was banished to a neighbouring kingdom, Tiryns, who welcomed him and accepted the young Prince. 

Anteia, the wife of King Proetus of Tiryns took a shine to the handsome Prince but he rejected her amorous advances. In her pride and anger, Anteia falsely testified against Bellerophon stating that he had tried to ravish her and take advantage of her virtue and generosity towards him. In response, King Proetus did not dare punish his royal guest and dishonour the agreed arrangement under the Divine Law of Xenia (which decreed that no harm could come to those who were guests under the care of another’s hospitality), so Bellerophon was once again sent away to another province in Lycia.

However, unknown to him, the receiving King Iobates of Lycia, was also the Father of Anteia and Bellerophon carried on him a sealed message stating –  “Pray remove the bearer from this world: he attempted to violate my wife, your daughter.”
(This method of carrying a message requesting the death of the messenger has since become known as a Bellerophontic letter).
King Iobates was also wary of the Law of Xenia and he too was reluctant to take the life of a Prince of a neighbouring Kingdom so instead set him an impossible task to complete.

Bellerophon was sent to nearby Caria to kill the Chimera, a terrifying fire-breathing Monster that had the head of a Lion, the body of a Goat and the tail of a serpent. On his journey to confront the beast, he sought the services of the famous seer, Polyidus who advised him that he would need to tame and ride the winged horse, Pegasus.  Upon asking how this would be possible, he was told to make sacrifice and sleep in the Temple of Athena. Whilst sleeping, the Goddess Athena came to him and offered a golden bridle with which to charm and harness the steed while it drank from the Well of Pirene, near the city of his birth from which he had been previously exiled. He took the journey home and followed the instructions, mounting the horse and flying back to Caria where the Chimera terrorised the land.

Bellerophon battled against the Chimera but found that even with the swiftness of Pegasus to aid him, his spear and sword could not harm or defeat the monster. Each time he drew near, the Chimera breathed our fire causing him to pull away again. He received inspiration to wrap a large amount of the soft metal, Lead around the tip of his spear and flew directly at the Chimera plunging his spear deep into its throat. The fiery breath turned the Lead to molten metal which lodged in the Chimera’s throat bringing it’s life to an end. 

King Iobates seeing Pegusus and satisfied that his task had proved worthy of the Gods and justified his innocence, offered Bellerophon his other daughter in marriage, Philonoe, the younger sister of the accuser Anteia whom, to avoid public humiliation for exposure of her false lies, took her own life.

As Bellerophon’s fame grew and he became known as the Slayer of the Chimera, so did his arrogance. To seek reward for his victory over the Monster, he attempted to fly on Pegasus to Mount Olympus, the home of the Gods, to present himself as a Prince and a Champion. Instead, annoyed by his display of Hubris, Zeus sent a horse-fly to sting Pegasus causing Bellerophon to fall back to Earth eventually dying of his injuries in humility, solitude and destitution. His tomb lies at Tlos, the magnificent hilltop citadel in Lycia, now Southern Turkey dated to around 350 B.C.

(The 2000 Film, Mission Impossible 2, tells the story of the release of a deadly virus by a pharmaceutical company named Chimera, in order to generate a huge market demand for its vaccine antidote, named Bellerophon).  

The similarities and synchronistic events in these ancient myths often sow the seeds of later stories attributed to other hero’s from other times.

Five hundred years after Bellerophon, the story of a young man, born in the year AD280 in Cappadocia, a region in Turkey, who became a great soldier, achieving a high military rank under the instruction of the Roman Emperor, Diocletian. He was known for his generous nature, intelligence and courteous and had been raised as a Christian. 

The Emperor was devoted to the worship of Apollo and was told by the priests whilst at a shrine of Apollo that the Christians were creating a lie through their spreading of the Trinity.  Diocletion began his reign of cruelty, punishing and persecuting the Christians.  

The soldier was filled with righteous anger, the same anger that saw Jesus overturn the tables of the moneylenders in a temple of the Lord God. He witnessed atrocities carried out against Christians and was told to keep silence by his fellow soldiers and to show prudence towards all he saw. Instead, he chose to ignore their pleas and  began individual missions of mercy distributing money and his goods to those in need, freeing slaves by purchasing their release and conducting knightly deeds on behalf of the oppressed and mistreated population.

In Libya, there lived a terrible monster that consumed all that it came across, devouring flocks and herds of animals across the countryside.  In the city of Silene, in order to pacify the creature they called Dragon,  a law was passed so that a child would be selected each day in order to be given to it in sacrifice.  After some time had passed, there were no more children remaining, apart from one – the King’s daughter.  Realising his mis-fortune in honouring the Law that he had passed, in his despair, the King offered all his gold in exchange for someone to rescue the princess from her intended fate. 

For eight days he withheld his daughter from sacrifice whilst the monster created destruction and desolation upon the land in vengeance. On the eighth day, the people of the city gathered and marched to the King’s Palace demanding that he release the Princess to the fate that all their children had suffered. She graceful fell to her father’s feet and begged him she was prepared to die for the people as had the other children before her. The Princess was led out to the place the other children had been taken and sobbing to herself, awaited her fate. 

It was at this time, the virtuous soldier had been travelling in far off lands and seeking ways in which to help weak and needy and to serve the Truth and was passing by the city of Silene.  He enquired why she was crying to which she responded by revealing the whole story. 
“Fear not, graceful maiden, I will deliver you through the power that is revealed within the hearts of all true followers of Christ”. 

At that point, crashing through the trees and bushes, there approached the fearful monster ready to consume its next offering. Instead, it was met by the valiant soldier, who charged at it time and time again piercing it with his lance until it lay still upon the ground.  He wrapped the Princess’s girdle around its neck and dragged its carcass back to the city to show deliverance of their fear from the monster’s curse. The King amply rewarded him with much treasure which was  soon given away to the sick and needy until nothing remained for the soldier.

The Emperor Diocletion issued an edict published throughout the empire condemning all Christians and the practices of Christianity. The soldier tore them down at every opportunity and spoke openly against the injustice of the Emperor’s demands.  He was soon arrested and tortured to turn against his declarations – but he would not repent or dispute his teachings.
He was brought before the Emperor still maintaining his faith and was beheaded in the year AD303.  The name given to him was George later becoming the tale of St George and the Dragon, adopted as the Patron Saint of England under the banner of the Red Cross.