According to ancient Greek Mythology, the flames emanating from the natural gas source located on the rocks north of the beach in Çıralı neighbourhood of Kemer district are described as follows; Hipponoes, the son of Glaukos, King of Ephyra, kills his brother Belleros at a hunting party and takes the name Bellerophontes, which means "Belleros Eater". Exiled from Ephyra, Bellerophontes takes refuge in the king of Argos. The King of Argos, who could not bring himself to kill this young man who took refuge in him, sends him to the King of Lycia.
The King of Lycia does not want to kill this pitiful young man and sends him to fight with Chimera, the lion-headed, goat-bodied, snake-tailed and flaming monster living on Mount Olympus. Bellerophontes goes to fight Chimera by riding his winged horse named Pegassos. When Chimera attacks, Pegassos takes off and Bellerophontes buries the monster seven floors below the ground with his spear. But Chimera continues to spread flames from 7 floors below the ground. According to the legend, which has been told in Anatolia for thousands of years and which Homer has passed on to us in this way, the flames that are still burning are the flames of Chimera from seven floors below the ground.
A race is organised in Olympus to celebrate the victory of Bellerophontes. Athletes run to the city of Olympus by igniting their torches with the Holy Fire of Chimera.
Thus, the first example of the Olympic Games in Anatolia, which lasted for a few days and in which different sports branches were added later on, was realised.