Centaurs
by Swati Joshi, Jill LaBanca and Stacey Stecko
A
Centaur, in Greek mythology, was a creature, that was half man and half horse.
The creature’s head, trunk and arms were those of a man, and the legs and the rest of
the body were those of a horse. Centaurs' weapons were not man-made, but rather
natural weapons, such as rocks and branches. The Centaurs were known for their
vicious behavior and lustfully violent acts against women. They were said to
have once lived in the mountain regions of Thessaly (Thessalia)
and to have had a wild craving for wine as well as for women. Because of their
drunken and savage nature, the Greeks sometimes thought of the Centaurs as
followers of the wine god Dionysus.
According to one myth, the race of Centaurs came into existence when Ixion
attempted to seduce Hera, the wife of Zeus. When Zeus learned of this attempt,
he created a cloud which took the form of Hera, and from the union of Ixion and
this cloud the monster Centaurus was born. Centaurus, in turn, mated with
mares, giving birth to the race of Centaurs.
The
Centaurs were particularly notorious for their bestial behavior at the wedding
of Pirithous, King of the Lapiths, a mythological people said also to have
lived in Thessaly. The Centaurs were invited to this wedding, at which they
became characteristically intoxicated and attempted to seize the Lapith women.
After assaulting the female guests, the Centaurs attempted to abduct the bride.
A bloody battle ensued, after which they were driven from Thessaly to Mount
Pindus on the borders of Epirus.
The battle of the Centaurs and
Lapiths was a popular subject in the decoration of both pots and temples.
As to the latter, the battle appeared as part of the sculptural programs of the
temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Athenian treasury at Delphi, and the Parthenon at
Athens. The images below are from the Parthenon.
Some
images of Centaurs
Image one
is of a plaster cast of a marble plaque of a Lapith and a Centaur
fighting. The orignal was made about 440 BC as part of the scupltural
program of the Parthenon in Athens. The cast is now at Oxford University.
Image
two shows another plaque from the Parthenon, this time an original
currently in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Image three is of another
plaque (this time in the British Museum).
Image four (also in the British Museum).
Although these plaques are damaged they still give
a good sense of the way Athenians in the mid-fifth century thought about the
semi-human, semi-bestial Centaurs.
