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In ancient Corinth there lived king Glaucus, son of Sisyphus, and his fair and brave son Bellerophon, who was to  become one of the great heroes of Greek mythology. As is the case with many Greek heroes, there is some doubt about the origins of the name Bellerophon. Some sources claim he inadvertently slew his brother during the hunt, while others state he disposed of a belleros, an enemy or even a "bane to mankind."
Whatever the truth, it was this death that caused Bellerophon to be exiled from his father's house. He ended up in Tiryns, up as a supplicant to the Mycenean king Proetus. The king offered him sanctuary and even expiation of his crime. Unfortunately, Bellerophon attracted the eye of Anteia, also known as Stheneboea, wife to king Proetus. When Bellerophon refused her, Anteia went to the king and told him Bellerophon had attempted to ravish her. Now Proetus, bound by the laws of hospitality, could not bring harm to Bellerophon and decided to send him away to Xanthus in Lycia where Iobates, Anteias father, was king. To ensure that Iobates woul deal with Bellerophon the right way, Proetus told Bellerophon to bring Iobates a sealed letter, in which he had written that Bellerophon had attempted to ravish "my wife, your daughter".
But Iobates received Bellerophon in accordance with the laws of hospitality, ordering a grand feast lasting nine days and nine nights. On the tenth day Iobates summoned Bellerophon and asked him to hand over Proetus' letter. As he read the letter, Iobates realised that he too could not harm Bellerophon. On the other hand, he could also not allow "the molester of his daughter" to walk free. So Iobates decided he would send Bellerophon on a mission that would surely kill him: to kill the Chimera, a monster depicted by Homer as having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail and a terrible fiery breath which it used to lay waste to the Lycian lands.
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