The aegis, as stated in the Iliad, is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex or Aix, a daughter of Helios and a nurse of Zeus or alternatively a mistress of Zeus.
A banshee is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is connected to the mythologically important tumuli or "mounds" that dot the Irish countryside, which are known as síde in Old Irish.
Pegasus is a mythical winged divine horse, and one of the most recognized creatures in Greek mythology. Usually he is depicted as pure white. Myths about him vary as the Greek myths evolve and reflect progression through successive generations of deities.
The Chimera, also Chimaera (Chimæra), according to Greek mythology, was a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature, composed of different animal parts from Lycia, Asia Minor. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat protruding from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head. It was an offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.
In Greek mythology, Perseus is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was a Greek hero and a slayer of monsters before the days of the Trojan war and Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles.
Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755), with his victory total being almost 1,000 more than any other manager. His loss total is also more than 1,000 higher than any other manager.
The Circus of Dr. Lao (1935) is a novel written by the American newspaperman and writer Charles G. Finney. It won one of the inaugural National Book Awards: the Most Original Book of 1935.
Anaconda is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has generally been associated with the Serpent Society, often as a foe of Captain America. Sitznski was given her superhuman abilities by the Roxxon corporation, giving her the codename Anaconda due to her powerful, adamantium-enhanced arms which she uses to constrain or crush her opponents. Her first appearance was as part of the Serpent Squad, when they tried to retrieve the Serpent Crown only to be thwarted by Thing, Stingray and Triton. She later became a core member of Sidewinder's Serpent Squad and remained a member when they became the Serpent Society.
Chimera is a 1972 fantasy novel written by American writer John Barth, composed of three loosely connected novellas. The novellas are Dunyazadiad, Perseid and Bellerophoniad, whose titles refer eponymously to the mythical characters Dunyazad, Perseus and Bellerophon. The book is an example of postmodernism, which can be seen in its metafictional content and its incorporation of stylistic elements that go beyond the traditional novel genre. It shared the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction with Augustus by John Edward Williams.
The Chimera of Arezzo is regarded as the best example of ancient Etruscan art. The British art historian David Ekserdjian described the sculpture as "one of the most arresting of all animal sculptures and the supreme masterpiece of Etruscan bronze-casting". Made entirely of bronze and measuring 78.5 cm high with a length of 129 cm, it was found alongside a small collection of other bronze statues in Arezzo, an ancient Etruscan and Roman city in Tuscany. The statue was originally part of a larger sculptural group representing a fight between a Chimera and the Greek hero Bellerophon. This sculpture is likely to have been created as a votive offering to the Etruscan god Tinia.
A sheep–goat hybrid is the offspring of a sheep and a goat. While sheep and goats seem similar and can be mated, they belong to different genera in the subfamily Caprinae of the family Bovidae. Sheep belong to the genus Ovis and have 54 chromosomes, while goats belong to the genus Capra and have 60 chromosomes. The offspring of a sheep-goat pairing is generally stillborn. Despite widespread shared pasturing of goats and sheep, hybrids are very rare, indicating the genetic distance between the two species. They are not to be confused with sheep–goat chimera, which are artificially created by combining the embryos of a goat and a sheep.
Chimera, originally found in Greek mythology, is a monstrous fire-breathing creature composed of the parts of multiple animals. The term, and often the general concept, has since been adopted by various works of popular culture, and chimeras of differing description can be found in contemporary works of fantasy and science fiction.
Secret of the Sirens is a fantasy novel by British writer Julia Golding. It is the first book of the Companions Quartet. The other three books in the quartet are The Gorgon's Gaze, Mines of the Minotaur, and The Chimera's Curse.
The Gorgon's Gaze is a fantasy novel by British writer Julia Golding. It is the second book of the Companions Quartet, and it continues the story from the previous book, Secret of the Sirens. The rest of the quartet includes Mines of the Minotaur and The Chimera's Curse.
Elements of Irish mythology often appear in popular culture. Sometimes similar themes are utilized in new narratives; other times the only similarity is the use of a name from Irish mythology, applied to a completely different character and story.
Bellerophon or Bellerophontes (Βελλεροφόντης) is a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame."
The winged, divine horse Pegasus has been a prominent figure in modern popular culture.
Companions Quartet is a book series by Julia Golding, a British author who is also the author of the Cat Royal series. The majority of the series takes place in the fictional town of Hescombe in England.
