CENTAURS

Creatures which are half human, half horse. In some of the earliest depictions they have an entirely human body with human forelegs but with the back half of a horse growing out of their backs, later the standard represented develops: a horse's body with a human torso growing out of it (see the various representations under Monsters). Both Herakles and Theseus engage in battles with Centaurs (Centauromachies). Centaurs typically use weapons taken directly from nature like rocks or branches.

Centaurs are usually depicted battling as a group against their human adversaries, but some individuals have a prominent in mythology. Nessos (or Nettos) was the centaur who tried to rape Herakles' wife Deianira and gave her the poisonous 'love potion' that would eventually kill Herakles. Pholos was the host of Herakles - his hospitality led to Herakles' centauromachy (see Apollodoros). The most famous 'good' centaur was Cheiron, the immortal centaur who was wounded by Herakles and allowed by Zeus to give up his immortality rather than live in agony for eternity (Apollodoros' statement that he gave his immortality to Prometheus is a puzzle as Prometheus was immortal anyway, perhaps Herakles, who did become immortal, is meant.) Cheiron was entrusted with the upbringing of the young Jason and Achilles.

In the Theogony Cheiron is the offspring of Phillyra and elsewhere his father is identified as Kronos who had taken on the form of a horse to mate with Phillyra. Cheiron is therefore a unique being. Centaurs in general are explained by Pindar (Pythian 2) as the children of a human called Kentauros, son of Ixion and Hera, who mated with horses.
 

The centaur has been suggested to have originated in Babylonia during the late 2nd millennuim B.C. It is thought the Kassites, a barbarian culture that migrated from Iran or further east to the Fertile Crescent around 1750 B.C., may have been responsible for creating the myth of the centaur. The Kassites, who fought with Egypt and Assyria for Near East supremacy, set up stones to mark the boundries of their lands. Figures of gods of guardian spirits were carved upon the stones, and some of these were
half-man and half-horse beings.

           It took centuries before the horse was common in the Near East, and it is possible the Kassites
           helped introduce equines to the region. As barbarian nomads, they might have ridden their horses,
           and to the Near-Eastern cultures who were used to chariots pulled by donkeys, the sight of a
           foreign men mounted on horses might have caused confusion. Hence, the rumors of half-men and
           half-horse beings may have grown.
 They were depicted as hunters with a bow as their principal weapon. As the myth of centaurs grew, it is thought the Hittite culture may have imported tales of half-men and half-horse beings to the Mycenean Greeks.

The name centaurs signifies 'those who round up bulls' and so alternatively, the idea of the centaur may have originated from the cattle breeders of Thessaly in northern Greece who spent much of their time on horseback and whose manners were rough and barbarous. Yet another possible origin of the centaurian myth suggests the original centaurs were Cimmerian and Scythian raiders, rough riding nomads from the north, who often invaded Thrace in the north-east.

           Once adopted into classical mythology, the Greeks believed a reprehensible mortal man named
           Ixion had founded the race. Ixion committed the outrageous offense of daring to attempt to seduce
           Hera, wife of Zeus and queen of heaven. To see how far Ixion's impudence would go, Zeus formed
           a cloud image of Hera and substituted it for the goddess. A monster, Centaurus, was born of this
           strange union, and when grown to maturity, he united with the mares of Mount Pelion and produced
           the race of centaurs.

                                             Another legend portrays Chiron as the first centaur.
                                             Chiron had begun life as a Titan, a son of Cronus and
                                             the ocean nymph Phylyra. He dared to make war
                                             against the young gods of Olympus but was defeated.
                                             Apollo, the god of light and reason, punished Chiron
                                             by making him half-horse. Chiron had been educated
                                             by the gods and in turn undertook the instruction of
                                             hero after hero; Actaeon, Jason, Castor and
                                             Polydeuces, and Achilles. Each served an
                                             apprenticeship with Chiron in the wilderness. Chiron's
                                             fate was an unhappy one because he fell wounded by
                                             a poisoned arrow in a tragic accident. The arrow
                                             came from the quiver of a good friend, Heracles
                                             (Hercules). There was no antidote to its poison and to
                                             escape the wound's unending agony, Chrion
                                             renounced immortality in favour of his fellow-Titan
                                             Prometheus. Zeus then generously set the kindly
                                             centaur's image in the heavens as the constallation
                                             Sagittarius, the Archer.

           The Greeks made the centaur population over to represent a race associated with drunkeness and
           physical violence and followers of Dionysus, the god of wine. In Greece, they inhabited Mount
           Pelion in Thessaly located in northern Greece.

           The principal myth associated with the centaurs concerns the war with the Lapiths, a neighboring
           Thessalian nation. The centaurs had claimed King Pirithous' kingdom and the king tried to make
           peace. The centaurs were invited to attend the wedding of Pirithous to Hippodamia (or Deidamia)
           as friends but they got drunk and tried to forcibly seize the Lapith women. One of the centaurs,
           Eurytion, even tried to carry off the bride but was restrained by Theseus. A long battle ensued and
           the Lapiths eventually emerged victorious. The centaurs were driven to the frontiers of Epirus and
           sought shelter on Mount Pindus.

           Heracles played a part in the myth of the centaurs in his
           visit to the centaur Pholus during his pursuit of the
           Erymanthian Boar. A fight broke out among the centaurs
           when they smelled an open jar of wine given to Pholus by
           Dionysus. Heracles drove them off with his arrows
           poisoned with the Hydra's venom. As a result of this fight,
           both Pholus and Chiron were accidently scratched with
           poisoned arrows and died. One of the centaurs, Nessus,
           sought vengeance on Heracles for the harm he had done
           to his race. After Heracles married Deianira, they were
           crossing the flooded river Evenus in Aetolia on their way
           home. Nessus offered to carry Deianira over the river on
           his back and then tried to rape her. Heracles caught
           Nessus and shot him with a poisoned arrow. As he died,
           Nessus seemingly tried to redeem himself by offering
           some of his blood to Deianira. He said if Heracles lost his
           love for her, she could win it back by smearing a tunic
           with the blood and giving it to Heracles to wear. Years
           later, when Deianira resented her husband's faithlessness,
           she did as Nessus proposed. It turned out the blood was
           poisoned and Heracles met a horrible death wrapped in
           the burning garment.

           Today in Greece, people will tell you of kallikantzaroi, 'good centaurs', who appear to be
           descended from the old legendary creatures. But the 'good' which has been prefixed to their names
           in modern times is a precaution taken out of fear, as when a superstitious northerner refers to elves
           or fairies as 'the good people'. The kallikantzaroi come up out of the ground on winter nights. They
           are hoofed, shaggy, swift, stupid and mischievous. In short they are 'monsters' in the modern, and
           not the ancient, sense.

Creatures part human and part horse. The centaurs were descendants of Centaurus, a son of the music god Apollo. Most
centaurs were governed by the bestial half of their double nature. Their behavior was uncouth, and a very small amount of wine
drove them wild.

When Heracles was entertained by Pholus, one of the few civilized centaurs, he made the mistake of demanding the guest's
prerogative of a beaker of wine. Pholus could not refuse, though he hesitated before unearthing a jug of the liquid which he kept
buried underground for fear of just the sort of consequence which now ensued.

As soon as Pholus uncapped the jar of wine, his brothers caught scent of it on the wind from more than a mile away. Driven
instantly to madness, they attacked Heracles, and the hero barely succeeded in driving them off with flaming arrows.

Wine also caused the centaurs to fight with other guests at the wedding feast of Theseus's friend Peirithous. It was on this
occasion that they destroyed the supposedly invulnerable Caeneus.

On another occasion, a centaur named Nessus offered to ferry Heracles' wife across a torrent on his back. Midway, his animal
nature got the better of him and he tried to force his attentions on his passenger. She shrieked and Heracles came running. He
killed Nessus with a single arrow through the heart.

Chiron was not an ordinary centaur, having ended up with his horsely half by virtue of his father, the god Cronus, taking the
form of a horse when Chiron was conceived. Chiron became renowned for his civility and wisdom. He served as tutor to many
famous heroes, including Heracles and Jason. He taught music and medicine as well as the skills of the hunt.