Those who know of Bellerophon and his legend might find it fairly odd. Bellerophon’s story seems a bit sporadic in its details. From the fierce argument of where his name comes from to the strange details of his family such as a brother that only is mentioned as being killed by him, a wife with five different names and three children, two of which are mysteriously killed by the gods for no defined reason and a third that connects him to a grandson named after the man that supposedly may have been Bellerophon’s father with the other contender being Poseidon. Did I mention that they are not even certain the child named after the supposed mortal father is even the man’s blood relative? Or that quite a few of his descendants have been attributed to other families? Or that he is often just substituted with Perseus?
Something is amiss, for while everything surrounding them is fractured and curious, Bellerophon’s deeds are unquestioned and certain. It is as though said details were added on afterward as some way to change and perhaps obscure something. Something someone wanted to be forgotten.
The gods are quite petty beings.
Whether it was his brother or a man named Belleros from which he acquired his name as an epithet, Bellerophon murdered a man and was exiled from Argos. He came to ask king Proteus for mercy and was subsequently pardoned of his crime. This was good. Until it wasn't, because Proteus's wife lusted after him only to be rejected, causing her to angrily tell her husband he tried to ravage her.
Proteus, in the bind of hospitality, couldn't very well kill his guest, so he sent him to his father-in-law carrying a message requesting his own death. However, along the way, Bellerophon had a dream of the goddess Athena telling him not to give the message to Iobates, the king, until he had feasted with him for nine nights and no less. Following these instructions, Bellerophon did so, and Iobates, having read the message after already accepting him as a guest, found himself in the same bind his son-in-law had. So, he did what everyone seemed to do to get rid of unwanted demigods.
An impossible task: kill the Chimera.
So, he was off, encountering a seer along the way that advised him that he'd need Pegasus if he could ever hope to kill the Chimera. The seer told him to go sleep in the temple of Athena, and she would aid him as she already had.
He did, and, when he awoke, he found a golden bridle resting beside him. Taking the bridle, he returned to the seer who told him he would find Pegasus drinking at the well Pirene. Finding the winged horse as he said, he sneaked up and mounted the horse, using the bridle to tame the immortal beast.
Having gained the flying steed, Bellerophon traveled to Lydia and killed the beast, taking its main head back with him as proof. Iobates, however, refused to believe his story, saying he could have simply slain a lion and taken its head. Saying he needed to make up for this perceived falsity, he would need to complete a different task.
Thinking quickly, Iobates told him to mollify the restless Solymi and Amazons who he feared might soon turn their swords against Lycia. When dealing with the Solymi, he dropped several boulders from high in the sky upon them, declaring he would do so every day until they formed an alliance with Lycia. Once one had been established, though one that would eventually be broken, he moved on to the Amazons.
There, he found they actually were amassing their forces. Before he acted, Athena came to him again, saying that they would not be as easily dealt with as the Solymi. Rather than eliminating the whole army, Bellerophon would have to challenge their leader in battle, with the obvious reward for victory being they cease their preparations.
He did as she said, challenging Otrera, the founder and current leader of the Amazons, to combat. Though he won the battle, it was only thanks to his Mystic Eyes. Even then, he ended up killing the first Queen of the Amazons. The Amazons, keeping their queen's word, left with their queen and her children.
Iobates was feeling desperate now, sending Bellerophon against the pirates terrorizing their coast while preparing an ambush for his return. When both of these failed, Bellerophon approached to find the palace guards had also turned against him, all pretense finally discarded.
Calling upon the unleashed power of Pegasus, Bellerophon tore through the guards and into the palace, confronting the king. Iobates told him of the message , saying he had little choice in the matter. However, the king had begun to realize through Bellerophon's action that he wasn't the sort to do such a thing, having been honest, forward, and ready to perform any task asked of him. So, as apology for the deception and in recognition that he supported Bellerophon, he allowed him to marry his daughter Philonoe and giving him half his kingdom.
And so, Bellerophon rested for a time, having three children as he ruled over a prosperous land. As he did, and word spread of his accomplishments, his mind was filled with all the possibilities of what he could do to further spread his name. In a fit of inspiration, he mounted Pegasus and flew for Olympus, knowing that seeing the resting place of the gods would be something that truly cemented him in history.
Zeus, seeing the approaching mortal, sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus and rock Bellerophon from the horse as punishment for daring to attempt to approach the heavens. As he plummeted, Bellerophon called out for help from Athena for help but received no answer. He called for his father, though Poseidon had nothing to do with him since he was born. He called for Pegasus, but the horse was now free of its controller and soared on its own path.
Bellerophon asked for anyone to help him as he plummeted and crashed to the ground, landing in a thorn bush that gouged out his eyes. He wandered, blind and broken, hoarsely asking for help, wondering why the gods would do this to him. He had done as he was told. He had done so faithfully, trusting that they would aid him as they had before.
He called, and was met with silence, and cursed his own foolishness and weakness.
Not a good ending, is it? In the end, nothing Bellerophon did meant anything and the gods showed their fickle and mighty nature and how no mortal should try to reach beyond their station beneath them. He gained and lost everything to them, showing the control they have over the lives of mortals. Even Perseus, Cadmus, Heracles, Odysseus, etc. had more agency and character than Bellerophon, even if most of those examples ended in horrible ways as well.
It's as though his narrative is meant as a warning to others. Something crafted not only to magnify the gods' power and influence, but also the metatextual smearing of someone else. One could even call the further replacement of Bellerophon by Perseus to be another means to do so. If that is the case, the question becomes obvious:
Who would they go to all this trouble to erase?