Bellerophon

Bellerophon was a king and hero in Greek mythology. He was born to King Glaucus of Corinth. He murdered an unidentified character named Belleros, thus earning himself the name. He came to King Proetus of Mycenae to be purified of the murder. Proteus sent him to his father-in-law; King Iobates of Lycia. Iobates sent him on a quest to kill the Chimaera, which he succeeded, by taming Pegasus and pouring molten lead down its throat.

He then became arrogant and attempted to fly to Mt Olympus on Pegasus. However, this presumption angered Zeus and he sent a gad-fly to sting the horse causing Bellerophon to fall all the way back to Earth. Pegasus completed the flight to Olympus where Zeus used him as a pack horse for his thunderbolts. Bellerophon, who had fallen into a thorn bush, lived out his life in misery as a blinded crippled hermit grieving and shunning the haunts of men until he died. In Tlos, near Fethiye, in modern-day Turkey, ancient Lycia, there is a tomb with a carving of a man riding a winged horse. This is claimed locally to be the tomb of Bellerophon.

His descendants ruled Lycia.