All language subtitles for 15-lg-BELEROFONTE, O HOMEM QUE QUERIA SER DEUS

(mysterious music)

- [Presenter] It all began with a murder.

An accidental murder, but
a murder none the less.

The sun dipped below the skyline.

Hipponous drew back his bow.

There could be no doubt.

It had to be the stag that
he and his brother Belleros

had been hunting for two days now.

Hipponous held his breath.

The arrow flew.

Immediately a cry rang out.

Not the cry of an animal though,

this was the howl of a human.

A few strides away from
Hipponous, a silhouette collapsed

face down in the earth.

Not a stag, but a man.

Hipponous leaned over the
body and immediately knew it

to be that of his brother Bellous.

A horrified expression
spread across his face.

All was lost because he
who kills his brother

will not only be condemned
by his fellow men

but also cursed by the gods.

So he would no longer
call himself Hipponous.

From now on he would be Bellerophon,

meaning the killer of Belleros.

Having buried his brother,
Bellerophon lay across the tomb

and stared at the ground.

How would he ever obtain
the gods forgiveness?

All the more so as up on
Olympus some would say

that this crime was bound
to happen sooner or later.

Who was Bellerophon?

He was in fact the grandson of mortal,

one of the biggest criminals
of all time, Sisyphus.

Sisyphus the cunning, Sisyphus the liar.

To punish him for his tricks and lies,

Zeus compelled him to push a huge rock up

to the summit of a hill
from which it would forever

fall back down again.

Bellerophon dreamed of adventure.

He dreamed of matching
the greatest heroes.

Now it was all over, he would be banished.

Bellerophon took one last
look at the walls of Corinth,

the city of his birth,

the city where his father Glaucus reigned.

The city where he was a prince.

He knew that his gates would
now be forever closed to him.

Custom demanded that
any murderer be exiled

from his city, compelled to
wander until another city

agreed to take him in and
until a king cleansed him

by offering hospitality.

Bellerophon then considered Proetus.

Proetus was king of tyrants
in the Gulf of Argos.

Maybe Proetus would be
generous enough to take him in.

He was said to be a kind
hearted and a good king.

Bellerophon set off.

Moved by Bellerophon's
account of the tragedy

he had suffered, Proetus offered
him a home in his palace.

He introduced him to
everyone in the king's court

including Queen Stheneboea.

Unbeknownst to him, Proetus
had just unwittingly

risen the first act of
an even greater tragedy.

One night while Bellerophon
slept, the door opened.

A silhouette crossed the room,
and slipped into his bed.

It was Queen Stheneboea.

Bellerophon gave a start.

The queen declared the
undying love for him,

covering him with kisses.

She loved him, she had loved
him from the first moment.

The poor young man
panicked and backed off.

The Queen Stheneboea insisted,
trying to wrap her arms

around him.

Bellerophon was indignant.

It was out of the
question for him to betray

the hospitality of Proetus.

He told Stheneboea to go
and stop bothering him.

The humiliated queen departed
looking black as thunder.

It was clear that she had
not had her last word.

The following day, Queen Stheneboea

publicly accused Bellerophon
of trying to ravish her.

Despite the young man's protestations,

he was condemned by one and all.

King Proetus felt he was
on the horns on the kind

of awful dilemma that can ruin
a man and lead him astray.

He could not let this
outrage go unpunished

nor could he kill his
guest with his own hand.

That would go against the
sacred laws of hospitality.

Infringing them would incur
the wrath of the gods.

Then he had an idea.

Proetus asked Bellerophon
to take a message

to his step father,
Iobates, king of Lycia.

Grateful to escape so lightly,

the young man accepted the assignment.

Little did he know he had
just signed his death warrant.

When he arrived at the
court of the King Iobates,

Bellerophon was warmly greeted.

His first nine days there
were filled with festivals

and banquets.

Only on the 10th day did Iobates decide

to unseal the message that
Bellerophon had brought with him.

What he discovered inside mortified him.

Proetus had written, pray remove
the bearer from this world.

He attempted to violate
my wife, your daughter.

But like his son in
law, Iobates was loathed

to punish Bellerophon.

One cannot kill a guest
without fending the gods.

Never the less, the
solution had to be found.

So he offered Bellerophon a mission,

to kill a fearsome monster
that had terrorized

his kingdom for many years.

A monster born from the
amorous entanglements

of the cruelest demons in hell.

A wicked creature
endowed with three heads.

The head of a avaricious lion,

the head of a goat spitting flames,

and the head of a fire breathing dragon.

It was known as the Chimera.

Bellerophon accepted the challenge.

He felt no fear seeing only an opportunity

to prove his worth.

How long he had waited for this moment.

From an early age he had
dreamed of becoming a hero.

He yearned to go down
in history, for his name

to be the stuff of legend.

To be mentioned in the same
breath as his idol, Perseus,

the demi god born of Zeus' love affairs

who had won glory by cutting
off the head of Medusa,

the Gorgon.

He had to find a way
to take on the Chimera

without being devoured by fire.

If he attempted to attack from the rear,

he would almost certainly be swept away

by its colossal tail.

Bellerophon decided to consult a sear.

He was told that the only
way to overcome the monster

would be from the air.

And to that end, there
was only one solution.

To capture and tame Pegasus,

the fabulous winged horse.

The white stead so beloved of the muses

and said to be indomitable.

Pegasus, at last Bellerophon
was going to follow

in the footsteps of his
heroes, the valiant Perseus,

Jason, Orpheus, Heracles.

Rumor had it the sear
had told him that Pegasus

lived with the muses on Mount Helicon.

(soft flute music)

Bellerophon scoured every
last corner of the region

but could find no trace of the horse.

He roamed the roads and
forests, still nothing.

Finally one morning, his travels took him

to the temple of Athena.

Exhausted, he collapsed
at the foot of a column

and fell asleep.

It is often when mortals
are fallen into a deep sleep

that the gods come to speak with them.

Here, Athena, goddess of
wisdom, came to the young man.

And this is what she told him.

At your feet you will find a gift.

It will allow you to
tame the divine Pegasus.

After your victory, you
must thank Poseidon,

the father of Pegasus, by
building a temple in his honor.

The goddess added, you
will find the winged horse

in the fountain of Pyrene,
he likes to drink there.

When Bellerophon awoke, he found

the gift had been left close by.

He picked it up.

It was the golden bridle.

Bellerophon made his
way back along the road

to the place indicated by the goddess,

the fountain of Pyrene.

It was a magical fountain
said to be created

from the tears of Pyrene, the
girl of the river Asepalous,

mourning the death of her
son, inadvertently killed

by the goddess Artemis.

Athena was right.

Pegasus was indeed there.

The sublime, dazzling white
stead seemed to waiting

peacefully for him.

Bellerophon edged closer
and carefully slept

the gold bridle onto him.

After a moments hesitancy,
he mounted the horse.

Immediately Pegasus
reared up and in a name

that made the trees tremble,
hurtled toward the skies.

Up he soared flying high over the clouds,

a formidable messenger.

Bellerophon let the stead ride free.

Pegasus carried Athena's
protege towards the den

of the Chimera.

After flying over hill and
veil, Pegasus soared around

on a broad circle.

The frightening silhouette of
the Chimera had just appeared.

Pegasus swooped down on the monster.

Bellerophon drew back his
bow and shot his arrows

while the horse pounded
the skull of the Chimera

with his hooves.

Alas, to no avail.

The animal seemed indestructible.

The arrows shattered
like glass on it's skin.

Then, inspired again by Athena,

Bellerophon affixed a piece of
lead to the tip of his spear.

As Pegasus swooped down once
more towards the Chimera,

Bellerophon planted his
spear into the mouth

of the vile creature.

The Chimera began to spit out fire

but the fire only melted
the lead which ran down

into its throat consuming
and suffocating the monster.

The battle was over.

Bellerophon could now return victorious

to the palace of Iobates.

The young man was hailed by
the crowd as a liberator.

Strangely though, from King Iobates

there was no such outpouring of joy.

No honors, no gratitude.

On the contrary, he seemed upset

and with good reason.

Bellerophon had to pay for
the outrage he had perpetuated

on his son in law and daughter.

Bellerophon was then
asked to fight the fierce

and war like Solomi, a people
known for their cruelty

and savagery.

The young man set off once again.

Nothing could frighten
him now after achieving

the unthinkable and killing the Chimera.

(mysterious music)

Again, with the help of the loyal Pegasus,

Bellerophon managed to
vanquish the barbarians.

He withdrew, leaving behind
him a battle field in ruins,

littered with hundreds of bodies.

Iobates was distraught.

He began to wonder about the
true origins on this young man.

He was the son of Glaucus, but
some were given to understand

that his real father might be Poseidon,

master of the seas and oceans.

If so, Bellerophon would
be of a divine nature.

No matter, he must die.

No sooner had Bellerophon
returned to the palace

then Iobates dispatched
him to fight the Amazons.

The Amazons were fierce
some war like women

who terrorized the population.

Rumors about them were rife.

It was said that they were
the descendants of Auris,

the god of war and Nymph, harmony.

And that Amazon's slaughtered
their male children at birth

or made them lame or blind in
order to use them as servants.

It was also said that they
cut off their right breast,

the better to draw back their
bows and were practically

invincible in battle.

All this in no way scared Bellerophon.

Sitting astride the haughty
Pegasus, he polished off

the warriors in no time.

He returned to a rapturous reception.

The people of Lycia were in
a frenzy singing his praises.

All except Iobates who
continued to look solemn.

Not only did the king
refuse to commend his deeds,

he sent his best soldiers
with orders to arrest him

and eliminate him.

This was too much.

Bellerophon killed the kinds
soldiers and ran to Iobates

determined to obtain an explanation.

Iobates laid down his weapon.

He was now convinced that
Proetus must have been mistaken

about the attempted rape of Stheneboea.

He showed Bellerophon
the message from Proetus,

ordering that he should be killed

before giving a humble bow.

Bellerophon was blessed.

Any man able to mount
the indomitable Pegasus,

vanquish the Chimera, decimate the Solemi,

and drive the Amazon's out the country

could only be the son of a god.

There could be no doubt that in his veins

ran the noble and powerful
blood of the divinity Poseidon.

Iobates went even further.

To prove his admiration,
he gave his own daughter

to Bellerophon in marriage and
nominated him his successor.

Word quickly spread around all Greece.

Bellerophon was a demi god,
the son of the god Poseidon,

brother of the great Pegasus.

Bellerophon greeted the
acclaim with great satisfaction

and no little pride.

His ambition had finally been fulfilled.

He was bursting with conceit.

But the faithless Stheneboea
who had unjustly accused him

had to be punished.

Pegasus would take care of it.

Off flew the stead to Tyrans,
where the queen had fled

having learned of the failure of her plot.

After nightfall she left the palace.

Just then, Pegasus arrived.

He offered to take Stheneboea on his back.

Stheneboea accepted his offer.

Pegasus carried her away towards the sea

but once above the waves,
he reared up wildly.

The panicking queen clung
desperately to his mane.

Pegasus kicked, neighed and reared again.

This time, Stheneboea toppled off,

dispatched once and for all.

Bellerophon was finally fulfilled.

His spouse, the daughter of King Iobates,

gave him three children and he ascended

to the throne of Ricia.

However, he was to make a mistake.

A fateful error.

The more his exploits were
attributed to his blood line

with Poseidon, the more
Bellerophon felt belittled

and humiliated.

He grew to attest this
divine father who had been

forced upon him and who prevented him

from being acknowledged for
the man he was, Bellerophon.

Besides, Bellerophon does not believe

a word of this rubbish.

His was father was not nor
had he ever been a god.

He was no more begat by
Poseidon than he was of Apollo

or Zeus.

His father was Glaucus, a mere
mortal and he, Bellerophon,

owed his victories only to
his own skill and courage.

To make sure everybody
knew, he began to proclaim

loud and clear to all Sundry,
that the gods had no business

in the affairs of men.

All that was only empty superstition.

The gods had no hand in
his glorious destiny.

He, Bellerophon, son
a mortal was as strong

and as brave as any god.

The priests tried to calm him down.

They pleaded with him to
withdraw his blasphemous words.

This sent Bellerophon into a fit of rage.

Picking up a mace, he began
to smash down the columns

in the temple of Poseidon,
one after the other.

The gods are nothing, he repeated.

My victories were mine
and mine alone, you hear?

Mine alone.

In his rage, Bellerophon
dreamed up a new plan.

A particularly wild plan.

If he was being honored as a
god, then his rightful place

was among the gods, on
Olympus with the immortals.

He mounted Pegasus and
soared up into the air

towards Olympus.

It would be his final trip.

The gods love their heroes
well, provided they accept

the limitations imposed on human beings.

No sooner had Pegasus taken to the skies,

then Zeus emerged from his palace.

He closely observed
the stead and its rider

hurdling towards him.

With a snap of the fingers,
he produced a gad fly

which he dispatched to
attack the magnificent

and invincible stead.

The faithful Pegasus,
stung by Zeus' gadfly,

bolted, peroeted, and reared up.

Bellerophon was thrown from his back.

The fall was breath taking

and the landing devastating.

Bellerophon crashed right into
the middle of a thorn bush

which tore out his eyes.

He was thought to be dead, but no,

Zeus did not want his killed.

The king of the gods
regarded death as too slight

a punishment for the sin of
pride committed by Bellerophon.

When the young man rose
to his feet, he was blind

and lame.

Distraught and haggard,
he began to limp along

the first road he came across.

No one knows where Bellerophon went,

nor how he finished his days.

He was forgotten.

And until today, no one
had ever heard about a man

who was desperate to
etch himself in legend,

to become a hero.

A man who dared claim himself
to be equal of the gods.