Centaurs
Centaurs are a race of hybrid beings in Greek mythology, human in the upper body and horse from the waist down, most often depicted as a lawless people prone to drunkenness and violence rather than as individuals with myths of their own.
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In Practice
Pindar gives the fullest surviving account of their origin: Ixion, a mortal king, attempted to seduce Hera, and Zeus tricked him with a cloud shaped in her likeness, Nephele; Ixion's union with the cloud produced a being named Centaurus, who then mated with mares grazing on Mount Pelion to father the race of centaurs that appears in later myth. The Centaurs are best known collectively for the Centauromachy, their battle with the Lapiths, a neighboring Thessalian people. Homer already treats the fight as old legend by the time of the Iliad, with the aged Nestor recalling that in his own youth he fought alongside the Lapiths against 'the strongest men the earth has bred.' Later tradition, most fully told by Ovid, sets the battle at the wedding feast of the Lapith king Pirithous: the invited Centaurs, unused to wine, tried to abduct the bride and other women at the feast, and the resulting brawl became a standard image in Greek and Roman art for civilized order overwhelmed by animal appetite. One Centaur breaks the pattern entirely. Chiron was not descended from Ixion's line at all - Greek tradition gives him a separate origin as the son of the Titan Kronos and the nymph Philyra, born before Kronos's fall from power, which makes him immortal and, unlike the wine-prone Centaurs of the Centauromachy, wise, disciplined, and skilled in medicine, music, and prophecy. He tutored a roster of major Greek heroes, most famously Achilles, and Pindar also credits him with raising Jason. Chiron does not yet exist as a character entry in this corpus, so this page describes him only in outline rather than linking to a fuller account. Individual Centaurs also appear in hero myths as antagonists rather than as a mass. Pholus hosted Heracles and opened a jar of wine held in common by all the Centaurs, against custom, which drew the surrounding Centaurs into a drunken brawl that Heracles fought off with arrows poisoned by the Hydra's blood. Nessus, ferrying Heracles's wife Deianira across a river, tried to assault her once they reached the far bank and was shot down in turn; his dying trick - telling Deianira that his blood-soaked tunic was a love charm - killed Heracles long afterward, when she used it in fear of losing him to another woman.
What are centaurs in Greek mythology?
Centaurs are a race of mythological beings with a human torso and head joined to the body of a horse. Greek tradition treats them collectively as a wild, wine-prone people best known for a mass brawl with their neighbors, the Lapiths, rather than for individual adventures - the major exception being Chiron, a single centaur remembered as wise and civilized rather than dangerous.
Pindar, Pythian Ode 2.21-48
How were the centaurs born, according to Greek myth?
Pindar tells the fullest version: Ixion, a mortal king, tried to seduce Hera, so Zeus shaped a cloud, Nephele, into her likeness to expose him. Ixion's union with the cloud-phantom produced a being named Centaurus, who then mated with mares grazing on Mount Pelion to father the race of centaurs that appears in later myth.
Pindar, Pythian Ode 2.21-48
What caused the battle between the centaurs and the Lapiths?
In the fullest surviving version, the Centaurs were guests at the wedding of the Lapith king Pirithous. Unused to wine, they became drunk and tried to carry off the bride and other women at the feast, sparking a chaotic brawl, the Centauromachy, that later Greek and Roman art used as a standard image of civilization overwhelmed by animal violence.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.210-458
Was every centaur violent, like the ones at the wedding feast?
No. Chiron is the standard exception: rather than descending from Ixion's cloud-born line, he was the son of the Titan Kronos and the nymph Philyra, born immortal and set apart by wisdom, medical skill, and musical training rather than by drunken aggression. He tutored several major Greek heroes instead of fighting them.
Pindar, Nemean Ode 3.43-49
Who did Chiron teach?
Ancient sources credit Chiron with raising and training a number of Greek heroes, most famously Achilles, whom Pindar describes performing feats of strength and hunting under Chiron's care while still a child; the tradition also names Jason among his students. Chiron himself is not yet a character entry in this corpus.
Pindar, Nemean Ode 3.43-49
How did the centaur Nessus cause the death of Heracles?
Nessus offered to ferry Heracles's wife Deianira across a river and tried to assault her once they reached the far bank; Heracles shot him with an arrow poisoned by the Hydra's venom. As he died, Nessus tricked Deianira into keeping his blood as a supposed love charm, which she later used to poison a robe that killed Heracles in agony.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.101-133
Are satyrs the same creature as centaurs?
No, though both are hybrid beings central to Greek myth's boundary between civilization and wilderness. Centaurs combine a human upper body with a horse's body and lower legs, while satyrs are human-shaped except for goat legs, tails, and horns, and belong specifically to the retinue of Dionysus rather than existing as an independent, semi-hostile people.
Where This Appears
Referenced By
Sources
- Homer, Iliad 1.262-268
- Pindar, Pythian Ode 2.21-48
- Pindar, Nemean Ode 3.43-49
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.210-458
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.101-133
- Apollodorus, Library 2.5.4