Literary notes about chimera (AI summary)
The term chimera in literature functions as a versatile metaphor that bridges the literal and the symbolic. It is often employed to denote fantastical creatures drawn from myth, as when heroes confront hybrid beasts that defy natural order [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, chimera is used to describe elusive ideals or deceptive fantasies—visions that vanish as swiftly as they appear, misleading both the mind and the spirit [4, 5, 6]. Authors across eras have also applied the term to abstract concepts, critiquing impossible social or political constructs as nothing more than chimerical dreams [7, 8, 9]. This dual usage enriches the literary landscape, inviting readers to reflect on the interplay between reality and illusion.
- With him Bellerophon caught and slew the fire-breathing Chimera.
— from Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Hesiod - It was the time of Echnida and the Chimera of Pasiphæ and the Minotaur.
— from Woman and Puppet, Etc. by Pierre Louÿs - Then Fables yet have feign’d, or fear conceiv’d, Gorgons and Hydra’s , and Chimera’s dire.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - Yet next moment the vision would fade before my eyes, and I have found myself deceived by a mere chimera, tricked by an idle fancy.
— from The Temptress by William Le Queux - The meaning of life—the so-called absolute truth—is but a chimera.
— from What Nietzsche Taught by Willard Huntington Wright - "And I had all this," he murmured as, mechanically he acknowledged the salutes; "and have thrown it away for a shadow; a chimera.
— from Traitor and True: A Romance by John Bloundelle-Burton - There is no manifold of coexisting ideas; the notion of such a thing is a chimera.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - And thus this guarantee of nature makes it a duty that we should labour for this end, an end which is no mere chimera.
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant - The form of government which is usually termed mixed has always appeared to me to be a mere chimera.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville
