CentaursA Centaur is half man, half horse. Its head, trunk and arms are those of a man. Its legs and remaining body are those of a horse. It feeds on live flesh and lives like beasts in the forests of Thessaly. Centaurs have a wild craving for wine and women. Their brutal customs scare mankind. The Centaurs are very erratic. They can be hospitable one moment, irrational the next. Never trust a Centaur, they have a reputation for betraying you e.g. as the ferryman Charon who intends to rape Hercules’ bride Deianeira after sailing her over the river out of Hercules’ reach.
They come into the world because the priest Ixion dares to fall in love with the goddess Hera. Zeus punishes the priest by confusing him so that he lands in a cloud thinking it is Hera. Being enamored with the cloud that he thinks is Hera, the cloud gives birth to the Centaurs.
There are a few reliable Centaurs e.g. Chiron. Chiron is famous for his gentry, wisdom and knowledge unlike any of his brothers and has been the tutor and master of many a Greek hero.
He is the product of the Titan Cronus and the Nymph Philyra’s relationship. His father takes the shape of a horse in order to seduce Philyra. When Philyra sees this half man-half horse abomination, she begs the gods to be changed into a linden tree.
Apollo and Artemis take pity on Chiron and teach him the divine arts of medicine and hunting. Chiron becomes a very popular teacher and founds a school at Mt. Pelion in Thessaly where he teaches great heroes to be as Pollux and Castor (the Dioscuri), Peleus, Achilles, Nestor, Odysseus, Actaeon, Diomedes and many of the Argonauts, for whom he makes a maritime chart when they leave for their expedition.
Chiron is accidentally killed by Hercules in the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths. Hercules pierces Chiron with one of his famous arrows, dipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra of Lernae. Chiron has been granted immortality but suffers indescribably that she grants his immortality to Prometheus in order to die. Because of Chiron’s nobility, Zeus does not let him enter Hades but places him in the stars as the constellation known as Sagittarius.
Another famous and kind Centaur is Pholus. Hercules asks for hospitality from Pholus who is known for his benevolence. Pholus, as the good host he is, serves a grandiose meal for Hercules. Hercules then takes a extraordinary wine reserved for the Centaurs without permission. When the bottle is opened the odor spreads across the countryside causing the furious Centaurs to surround Pholus’ cave and attack Hercules who manages to kill a great number of them and scare the rest away.
Pholus takes no part in the battle but simply begins to bury his kinsmen when Hercules mortally wounds Pholus in the hoof (Hercules has a way of accidentally killing innocent Centaurs). Hercules buries the innocent victim with and honorary funeral by a mountain that has since then been called Pholoë.
Links:
Ixion
The Ferryman Nessus (The Adventures of
Hercules)
Heroes