CHIMERA

Chimera, Etruscan bronze sculpture from Arezzo, Italy, 5th-4th century BC. In the 1/4 in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. She devastated Caria and Lycia until she was slain by Bellerophon. In art the Chimera is usually represented as a lion with a goat's head in the middle of its back. The word is now used generally to denote a fantastic idea or figment of the imagination. Chimera, or chimre, in architecture, is a term loosely used for any grotesque, fantastic, or imaginary beast used in decoration.