Chimera, magick Families, and Dragons; Any Historic basis?

[Haelos]

I've read a lot about Chimera in the past, but very little of what I read had much firm grasp in reality. Fairy Tales, and the like. Even some of the Greek works I've come across, which seems to be the area most renowned for the creation of chimera, are very scarce in what they say of them, beyond their physical descriptions.

Now, we have plenty of chimera these days, and they are quite believable things. And why wouldn't they be? You can create the technology to splice DNA together for under 8 thousand dollars, and in your own garage.
But in the past, how would they have done it?
The technology of the Ancients was more advanced than ours, but in what ways?


The same thing goes for magick being passed within lineages. If there is such a thing as a "magick family", is there actually any reason to believe they would have more power at birth than any 'average' family? Or is the training they go through what really amplifies their power?

I know there have always been the various mystery schools, but to my knowledge, not many of them were explicit in what bloodlines or families they took in. Is this concept a complete fabrication of popular media / Fairy Tales?


And finally, Dragons. The idea of dragons seem to lead to the evidence that Man and Dinosaurs existed along side one-another, at least for a short time. I find it believable to an extent, but that isn't really the debate here.
Are there any actual books or spells written by reliable magicians as their source that deal with dragons as a topic? It's never been something I've come across.
What about Asian dragons? They're often depicted as benevolent entities. Are these creatures purely spectral entities, or do they have physical forms? Are they able to switch between them, as most Gods and powerful enlightened entities are able to do?


What do you guys think of the the few topics I mentioned? Are they all fairy tales? Are they only semblances of a lost truth?
I'm looking to hear anything you guys have to offer on these subjects. If you'd like, you can throw things like Werewolves, Leviathan, and other various nasty things that were said to exist into your posts. (Vampires excluded, because any Magician knows that the vampire stories are simply fairy tales depicting spiritual vampirism, or energy-leeching, or whatever you call it.)

What does History get wrong, and fantasy get correct?