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Chimera - help needed
Fellow Bondians
A while ago I wrote a post on 007 Under the Mango Tree about Severine's ship Chimera.
If anyone can bring some quality suggestions about the symbolism of the name Chimera within the story of Bond and Skyfall give me a shout. I've tried but cannot come any closer than this for the time being.
Check it out here:
http://007underthemangotree.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/chimera/
A while ago I wrote a post on 007 Under the Mango Tree about Severine's ship Chimera.
If anyone can bring some quality suggestions about the symbolism of the name Chimera within the story of Bond and Skyfall give me a shout. I've tried but cannot come any closer than this for the time being.
Check it out here:
http://007underthemangotree.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/chimera/
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Comments
In mythology the Chimera was a fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's body, and snake's behind, widely considered to be female and was an omen for terrible events including shipwrecks, storms, natural disasters and more. The creature's ability to breathe fire and ominous presence feed back into the character Bérénice imaged Severine to be. Also, in many of the pictures drawn of the monster it appears to be very dragon-like, again feeding more into the dragon theme Severine has. When considering all this, that may be why Severine's boat was symbolically called The Chimera.
I just wanted to add in my thoughts on the matter, but I will try to get back to you on this while I do my own sleuthing. Cheers!
That is where I first grew fascinated with it as well! And they say you can't be educated by action films.
"Secatur" from Live and Let Die was a good one too.
Your blog looks very interesting indeed. I've linked it to my own The Bondologist Blog in its links section.
Chimera being a fire-breathing female creature is why she must be seen smoking, I think. Her smoking/exhaling smoke is a very visual element in the movie - she isn't just smoking for no reason. (Does anyone else in Skyfall smoke?) Her nails aren't just your regular nails, either, they're claw-like. Her hair resembles a lion's mane when let loose in the wind, and the mythical Chimera's lion has a mane despite the creature mainly being seen as female. It's a hybrid, after all.
Severine is a mysterious creature of many sides. She is dangerous and scared, like a wounded, threatened animal. She isn't only a tragic character, she also carries a gun (surely not for decorative purposes) and takes part in art scams that involve getting people killed (she is very business-like about it, apparently, and has clearly seen something like it happen before, probably many times).
Bérénice herself spoke of animals, of dragons as inspiration, and of the character being dangerous, complex, with animal-male-female elements.
Also, I found dictionary synonyms for the noun chimera interesting in the context:
fantasy, conceit, daydream, delusion, dream, fancy, figment, hallucination, illusion, nonentity, phantasm (also fantasm), pipe dream, unreality, vision
To be fair I have not yet seen the Sam Mendes Audio commentary version of Skyfall so the whole Severine/Dragon symbolism has elluded me.
Cheers, I'll look into it and update the post.
And, to you Mr Brady, Sir, many thanks.
I'm still going with the Turkey bit and I actually thought that I had put in the part about the Chimera being an omen.
I haven't seen it, either. :( I didn't even know he talks about it there.
Got the br disc, too, but not the player, I only have a dvd player. Not having Sam's commentary available on dvd is just... wrong. As soon as I get the new tv and the br player that's the first thing I want to see/hear, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Homer's brief description in the Iliad is the earliest surviving literary reference: "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire". Elsewhere in the Iliad, Homer attributes the rearing of Chimera to Amisodorus. Hesiod's Theogony follows the Homeric description: he makes the Chimera the issue of Echidna: "She was the mother of Chimaera who breathed raging fire, a creature fearful, great, swift-footed and strong, who had three heads, one of a grim-eyed lion; in her hinderpart, a dragon; and in her middle, a goat, breathing forth a fearful blast of blazing fire. Her did Pegasus and noble Bellerophon slay" The author of the Bibliotheca concurs: descriptions agree that she breathed fire. The Chimera is generally considered to have been female (see the quotation from Hesiod above) despite the mane adorning its lion's head, the inclusion of a close mane often was depicted on lionesses, but the ears always were visible (that does not occur with depictions of male lions). Sighting the Chimera was an omen of storms, shipwrecks, and natural disasters (particularly volcanoes).
Like I used to say to my students when I used to teach literature: everything is significant in fiction.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Oh it doesn't mean it is deeply symbolic. But it is significant that the boat is called Chimera and not The Merry Sailor.
As Khan said, it's because it sounds exotic and cool. Like the Flying Saucer being translated into Italian becoming the Disco Volante. No big deal.
Oh goodness, really? Well, that's a fast way to make students uninterested and frustrated. Many teachers of mine have pulled that kind of logic, and it is part of the reason why most literature classes aren't as fun as they should be and why a lot of kids enrolled in school have no interest in exploring the great classic pieces of literature present in our world. I can't count how many times I have gotten into arguments with professors about whether or not a line or word from a so-called "genius piece of writing" is symbolic.
It's the equivalent of film fans going on about how Kubrick never made continuity errors and instead only made intentional "mistakes" that had significance in every shot of his films. I mean, the man was brilliant, but he wasn't that brilliant. Nobody is.
That slick dragon reference that Brady mentioned seems to be the key one.
As for it just being a cool name, I would think so about many Bond films but not Skyfall. No, sir. Everything in Skyfall, down to the last detail means something. Well, perhaps not everything, but as I said before it is the most symbolic Bond film yet. Mark my words.
Maybe Renard's boat named "Seven Heaven" doesn't mean anything (or does it) but the Onatopp Manticore sure does. Ever so, does the Chimera refer to that yacht from GoldenEye also named after an ancient mythological monster.
Read my post on the Manticore here:
http://007underthemangotree.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/manticore/
Chimera is just a cool nick name don't get all hot and bothered !
Well you'll be glad I don't teach anymore then. But have you seen me teaching to have such strong opinion about it? I think ignorance and a lack of curiosity are what makes the school system fail. Not teachers who think their subject is relevant and worth studying. So I will take your comment for what it is, a stupid ad hominem reduction.
Chimera might just be a cool nickname, but it exist in a context in the movie and as part of it can be analysed. I've never seen a student failing by wondering about an element in a work of fiction and investigating it.
I strongly suggest IFM old chap. This guy has all the classic hallmarks.
Sorry if I got off as inflamingatory. I agree, that a love of learning is important !