centaur - Legendary centaurs, Art, Theories of origin, Centaurs in fiction, Centaurs in games

In Greek mythology, a creature combining the upper half of a man and the rear legs of a horse (as shown on vases); later and more popularly imagined as having the entire body of a horse. Centaurs came from Thessaly, and most were beastly and wild, fighting with the Lapiths and with Heracles.

For other uses of the term "centaur", see Centaur (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, the centaurs (Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race of creatures composed of part human and part horse.

This half-human and half-animal composition has lead many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures, embodied in contrasted myths, of centaurs as the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths, or conversely as teachers, as Chiron.

Legendary centaurs

The Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapithae, caused by their attempt to carry off Hippodamia, and the rest of the Lapith women, on the day of her marriage to Pirithous, king of the Lapithae, himself the son of Ixion. Another Lapith hero, Caeneus, who was invulnerable to weapons, was beaten into the earth by Centaurs wielding rocks and the branches of trees.

Like the Titanomachy, the defeat of the Titans by the Olympian gods, the contests with the Centaurs typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

Amongst the Centaurs, the most famous individuals were Nessus, Chiron, Pholus and Eurytion, all of which featured in the stories of Heracles.

Art

Vignettes of the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs were sculpted in bas-relief on the frieze of the Parthenon, which was dedicated to wise Athena.

The mythological episode of the centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira, the bride of Heracles, also provided Giambologna (1529-1608), a Flemish sculptor whose career was spent in Italy, splendid opportunities to devise compositions with two forms in violent interaction.

Theories of origin

The most common theory holds that the idea of centaurs came from the first reaction of a non-riding culture, as in the Minoan Aegean world, to nomads who were mounted on horses.

The Thessalians tribes described their own horse breeds as descendants of the centaurs.

Of the various Classical Greek authors who mentioned centaurs, Pindar was the first who describes undoubtedly a combined monster.

The armchair anthropologist and writer Robert Graves speculated that the Centaurs of Greek myth were a dimly-remembered, pre-Hellenic fraternal earth cult who had the horse as a totem. A similar theory was incorporated into Mary Renault's The Bull from the Sea.

The Greek word kentauros could be etymologized as ken - tauros = "piercing bull".

Centaurs in fiction

Centaurs have appeared many times and in many places in modern times, in for example Artemis Fowl, Avatar's Perdition: Black Sword Chronicle, Fantasia, the Narnia books (as well as in the movie adaptation of its second novel, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Xena: Warrior Princess, Harry Potter, Clash of the Titans and the trilogy Titan, Wizard, Demon and they also featured prominently in the Xanth series.

Centaurs in games

In the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, Motaro, one of the most infamous sub bosses of the first three games is a centaur. In Age of Mythology the centaur is a classical age myth unit. Although not as a flesh-and-blood Centaur, the Robot Master Centaur Man from Mega Man 6 is modeled to look like a Centaur. In the Shining Force series, Centaurs are often portrayed as the knights of most kingdoms. In fantasy novels the view of centaurs has sometimes been changed from barbarism to an honorable race that practices breeding and other actions relative to that of animals. This has also been done in some of the Magic: The Gathering cards that represent centaurs. In the real-time strategy PC game, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, the Centaur are portrayed as a barbaric warrior race. The University of Tennessee's Hodges Library hosts a permanent exhibit of a "Centaur from Volos", in its library. The exhibit, made by combining a study human skeleton with the skeleton of a Shetland pony is entitled "Do you believe in Centaurs?"