The Centaur's are half man, and half horse. They have the body of a horse but,
in place of the horse's head they have the torso, head and arms, of a man.
Most are wild and savage, known for lustfulness and drunkenness. The exception
is the wise Centaur Cheiron.
The father of the centaurs was Centaurus, who was held in disrepute by both men
and gods. Some accounts claim that he was the son of Apollo
and Stilbe, but the more interesting accounts say he was fathered by Ixion.
He gave birth to the race of Centaurs by mating with Magnesian mares.
The pivital event in the history of the Centaurs was their war with the
Lapiths. King Peirithous of the Lapiths inherited part of Thessaly from his
father Ixion.
The Centaurs as grandsons of Ixion claimed they were entitled to part of the
land. After a first round of fighting, a peace was arranged. Peirithous
invited the Centaurs to his wedding. Here the Centaurs became drunk, then
violent. Under the lead of Eurytionthey attempted to
carry off the Lapith women. In the resulting battle the Centaurs were defeated
and driven from the area. (reference
page)
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He is the
god of music, playing a golden lyre. He is also known as the Archer, far
shooting with a silver bow. He is the god of healing who taught man medicine.
He is called the god of light and truth, who cannot speak a lie.
One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four
horses an drive the Sun across the sky.
He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the
Greek world to divine the future.
His tree was the laurel, the crow his bird, and the dolphin his animal.
Ixion was the son of Antion and Perimela. He was a king in Thessaly and a
thoroughly bad hombre. His sins began when he married Dia the daughter of
Eioneus but, failed to bring the agreed bride price. Eioneus held his mares as
security on the dept. Ixion then lured Eioneus to his kingdom with the promise
of payment. Once there he murdered Eioneus by throwing him into a flaming pit.
The Greeks considered the murder of kin to be a particularly horrendous act.
No man or god would purify him of it. Zeus finally decided to purify him,
possibly because Zeus had taken an interest in Dia. Ixion went to Olympus for
the ritual. Once in Olympus Ixion attempted to seduce Hera. She informed Zeus, who
decided to test Ixion by shaping a cloud to look like Hera and placed it in
Ixion's bed. Ixion took the bait and was caught in the act with the cloud.
For this Zeus chained him to a fiery wheel in the the underworld for eternity. The cloud was to give birth to Centaurus. Dia gave birth to Peirithous
either by Ixion or by Zeus. (reference
page) Led the Centaurs in the battle that broke out at Peirithous's wedding.
Losing this battle resulted in the Centaurs being forced out of their home on
Mount Pelion. Later Eurytion forced King Dexamenus to agree to give his
daughter Mnesimache to be his wife. When he came to collect her
Heracles, who was the kings guest killed
him. (referecne
page) A civilized Centaur Pholus invited Heracles
to be his guest. However, the wine he used to entertain Heracles drew the
other Centaurs and a fight resulted. After the fight Pholus accidently dropped
one of Heracles poisoned arrows on his foot and died as a result. Some claim
that Pholus is the individual represented in the constellation Centaurus. (referecne
page) Nessus was driven from his home in Arcadia by
Heracles. He established himself as a
ferryman on the river Evenus. He even claimed to be appointed to the task by
the gods because of his good character. Years later he had the task of ferrying
Heracles bride Deianeira while Heracles crossed on his own. Nessus took
advantage of the situation to try to rape Deianeira. Heracles prevented this by
shooting him with a poison arrow. As he was dying he persuaded Deianeira that a
love charm made from his blood would insure Heracles faithfulness. In fact, he
knew this charm to be poisonous. Ultimately it was this charm that killed
Heracles. (referecne
page) Along with Hylaeus, he attempted to rape Atalanta
, who was able to kill him with a single arrow. (referecne
page) Along with Rhoecus, he attempted to rape Atalanta
, who was able to kill him with a single arrow. (referecne
page)Apollo
Ixion
Eurytion
Pholus
Nessus
Rhoecus
Hylaeus