Iobates (eye-OB-uh-teez). King of Lycia who tried to do away with Bellerophon by sending him after the Chimaera. Bellerophon had been sent by King Proetus of Tiryns to deliver a letter to Iobates. Proetus's wife had turned her husband against the hero, so the letter requested that Iobates kill him. Iobates felt that the simplest way to honor this request was to challenge Bellerophon to slay the Chimaera.