Lycia's king, Iobates, ordered a young warrior named Bellerophon to slay the chimera as a favor to a neighboring king, Proetus, who wanted Bellerophon dead.
But, riding his winged horse, Pegasus, Bellerophon instead emerged victorious from his battle with the beast (winning the hand of Iobates' daughter and eventually his kingdom).
Yet this piece, which stretches more than 4 feet in length and is the largest surviving representation of the Bellerophon myth, clearly stands on its own.