Bridle of Bellerophon
The golden bridle Athena gave the Corinthian hero Bellerophon to tame the winged horse Pegasus, the instrument that let him ride the stallion and, mounted, destroy the fire-breathing Chimera of Lycia. Apollodorus records the dream in which Athena brought the bridle to Bellerophon as he slept at her altar, and the hero woke with the gift in his hand; later tellings place the meeting at the spring of Peirene on Corinth's acropolis. The bridle is an emblem of god-given mastery over a divine beast, and Pegasus, once bridled, served the hero through the trials laid on him by King Iobates, including