Centaurs were the legendary half-man, half horse descendants of Centaurus, who was the son of Apollo and Stilbe or of Ixion and the cloud that Zeus substituted for Hera.

      Zeus purified Ixion of a first murder of kin, a horrifying deed. The shameless man repaid this honor by trying to seduce Hera. The goddess told her husband. When Zeus learned about this passion he made a disguised model of Hera, a cloud likeness, to see how obsessed he was with his wife. Ixion was so deeply in love with Hera that he slept with the disguised model. Zeus punished Ixion by chaining him to a winged and fiery wheel, which revolved forever in Tartarus. The cloud gave birth to a creature named Centaurus. It was Centaurus that descended upon a herd of Magnesian mares and conceived the Centaurs. The Centaurs had the bodies of horses, and the upper torsos of men.

      The Centaurs were creatures who were sometimes very hostile towards humans. They were always involved in brawls and battles. Often Zeus would send the Centaurs to punish gods and humans who had offended him. The hostility between man and Centaurs is said to have originated when the Centaurs were invited to their stepbrother's (Pirithous), wedding celebration. The Centaurs drank too much wine and became very violent. Eurytion, who was the most rowdy Centaur, tried to abduct the bride and fights broke out among the guests.

      Chiron is known as the wisest of all Centaurs. He did not depict the regular character of a Centaur; he just had the same body of those creatures. To the Greeks he was a close representation of a saint. He was a father figure to many of the gods' children. They were given to him so he could teach them great knowledge of the world. In one battle where the Centaurs were fighting, Chiron was accidentally wounded by one of Hercules' poisoned arrows. His wound could not heal, but he was immortal. He exchanged his immortality for Prometheus' mortality. He was then turned into a star in the constellation Centaurus.

      The dying Centaur Nessus tricked Deianeira, Hercules' second wife, into taking some of his blood poisoned by the deadly venom of the Hydra on Hercules' arrow. Nessus told her to use his blood as a "love potion"on Hercules if sometime in the future he ever fell out of love with her. Hercules had shot Nessus with an arrow as she creed out for help. Nessus tried to attack Deianiara on the other side of the river Evenus. Read more about this episode in Heroes, Hercules.

ACTIVITIES:
Centaur activity

KEY TEST WORDS:
Centaurs are half-man, half-horse creatures. The Centaur Chiron gave his immortality up for Prometheus' freedom from his punishment by Zeus. The Centaur Nessus tricked Deianiara, Hercules' second wife.

Creatures and Monsters

Fables

Footnotes:
None

SOURCES:
Jane Smith
Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Bulfinch's Mythology
"Manual of Mythology" by Alexander S. Murray.