Shrinking Banshee Presents:
Bellerphon
Bellerophon, the son of Glaucus King of Corinth, was
known as a great horse tamerand decided he would try to ride
Pegasus, a winged horse who had sprung from Medusa's neck.
Pegasus was notoriously wild and behaved only for the muses.
While praying to the Goddess Athena to give him a means of taming
Pegasus he fell asleep at her altar and awoke to find a golden
bridle. When Pegasus stopped to drink from a spring near Corinth,
near Bellerophon's home, he quietly slipped the bridle over his
head and slid on the animal, which was tamed by the bridle.
Together they rode as swift as
the wind, until Bellerophon heard of a fire breathing beast
called Chimera, who was the bane of the city of Lycia. Together
they flew over the beast's mouth and dropped a pile of led into
it's mouth, when it tried to shoot fire at them the lead melted
into her belly killing her. The town's people were so greatful
they offered Bellerophon the princess' hand in marriage, and he
eventually became king of Lycia. Power hungry and vain he started
to believe himself to be a god and tried to enter Mt. Olympus,
whereupon he was cast out of the sky into a far away country,
where he landed on a pile of thorns and was forced to wander as
an unknown beggar in torn clothes until his death.
Another myth surrounding
Bellerophon says that he fell in love with the wife of King
Proteus of Argos. Enraged Proteus sent him to see his father in
law, Iobates, with a message that said to kill the bearer.
However, Iobates had already invited Bellerophon into his home
and entertained him before he read the letter. Not wanting to
anger Zeus by dishonoring the relationship between host and
guest, Iobates decided he could not kill him, so he sent him to
kill (or prefereably, be killed by) Chimera. He may also have
defeated to warrior tribes, the Amazons and Solymi.
Bellerphon was played on
Xena by Craig Parker
The Bellerphon
Episode
Season 6: "To Helicon and Back", Bellerphon tries to avenge his mother,
Artemis's murder by wiping out Xena and the Amazons
Craig's Biography
Craig was born on June 17,
1970 in Suva, Fiji. He currently lives in new Zealand where he is
filming the Lord of the Rings and starring in local theatre
productions.
Craig's Filmography:
- No One Can Hear You (2001)
- The Judas Kiss (2001) - Theatre
production
- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring, The (2001) .... Haldir
- Wind in the Willow - Auckland Theatre
production
- "2 People" (1997) TV Series
.... Host (with Theresa Healey)
- Tommyknockers, The (1993) (TV) ....
Student Bartender ... aka Stephen King's The
Tommyknockers (1993) (TV)
- "Shortland Street" (1992) TV Series
.... Guy Warner (1993-1997)
- "Young Hercules" (1998/II) playing
"Lucius" in
episode: "Mommy Dearests"
(episode # 1.32) 11/12/1998
- "Young Hercules" (1998/II) playing
"Lucius" in
episode: "Dad Always Liked
Me Best" (episode
# 1.30) 11/6/1998
- "Twist in the Tale, A" (1998)
- Xena:Warrior Princess, episode "For
Him the Bell Tolls" as Prince Sarpordon, Season 2
- Xena: Warrior Princess, episode "Key
to the Kingdom" as King Cleades AKA Pumpkin, Season
4
Craig Parker Links
The One Ring's
Cast listings for the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie
has a small section on Craig.
Shortland Street's Cast page has lots of little tidbits and
favorites. They also have video clips from Craig's Scared
Scriptless appearances.
Bellerophon Links
Bellerophon's
page at Library thinkquest has an interesting 'Bio'
Characters of Greek Mythology has an alternate version of the events I
have described above, where the wife of Proteus pursues
Bellerophon then accuses him of raping her.
Myth Web's Bellerophon page has not only the story of Bellerophon but
links to those of all the vital players in his myth. It
also has some fun graphics.
Back
to the Olympians Page
Home Guestbook E-mail Shop Links NMDP Banshee Sitemap
Free counters provided by Honesty.com.
Image of 'Bellerophon and Pegasus' courtesy artcyclopedia.com
Free counters provided by Honesty.com.
Visitors to www.shrinkingbanshee.com