Description[]
Centaurs are mythological creatures that have a horse’s body and a man’s torso. They are drunk all the time and are known to violently retrieve their food from hunting. They could also use rocks and tree branches as weapons to help them win against their prey. These creatures lived in mountain caves and forests. The only exception to the centaurs, was Chiron. Chiron looks the same from the outside but has a very different personality. Chiron was smart, nice, wise and skilled in hunting, medicine and music. His father was Cronus and his mother was Philyra. He then taught Aesculapius, Jason, Hercules, and Achilles. Another nice centaur was Pholos.
Origin/ Family[]
All centaurs came from Centaurus (except for Chiron.) The myth below explains how Centaurus came to be.
"Ixion fell in love with Hera and tried to rape her, but she reported his behavior to Zeus, who decided to test his wife's testimony. For this purpose, the god made a Cloud Resembling Hera (this cloud was named Nephele1), and laid it beside Ixion [Ixion on his wheel is identified with Corona Australis]. So when Ixion went around boasting that he had enjoyed Hera, Zeus bound him to a wheel, on which he is whirled by winds through the air. The cloud (Nephele) gave birth to Centaurus, and when he consorted with the Magnesian Mares, the Centaurs were born."
In theory, Centaurus mates with magnesian mares to produce more centaurs.
Myths[]
1. A centaur named Nessus tried to rape the wife of Hercules. Her name was Deianira. When Hercules caught Nessus, he shot him with a poisonous arrow. Nessus asked Deianira to take some of his blood as he was dying. He said that if Hercules stopped loving Deianira to put the blood on one of Hercules’s garments. Deianira decided to listen to Nessus and save some of the blood. In the future Hercules did as Nessus thought and stopped loving Deianira. Deianira gave Hercules a tunic with the blood of Nessus on it. The poisonous blood killed Hercules and Nessus got his pay back on Hercules.
2. King Pirithous gave all of the centaurs invitations to his wedding. When the centaurs got there they got drunk and crazed and “pursued the Lapith women.” Soon an intense war came between the centaurs and the Lapiths. The centaurs used their strength to rip up tree trunks and stone slabs to fight back. After killing a lot of the centaurs, the Lapiths won. Then the centaurs were compelled to leave Thessaly.
3. Pholos, one of the nice centaurs, welcomed Hercules when he visited. He gave him a feast which included wine. The other centaurs could not resist the smell of the wine and quickly came to the cave. This caused a fight and many centaurs were wounded. Pholos was hurt so badly that he “cursed his immorality.” Prometheus heard him in pain and he suggested that he switch his life for the “centaur’s immortality. Pholos agreed and Prometheus lived forever, only to have his liver eaten by a vulture daily because Zeus was mad at him.
Powers[]
The powers of a centaur include super strength and amazing stamina; they could lift anything up to two tons. They also had the speed of a horse and suffered from having a human torso. These characteristics made centaurs fierce warriors when it came to fighting.
Interesting Facts[]
- Centaurs could eat everything humans could and all of the vegetation of a horse’s diet because of their “dual digestion” system.
- Centaurs have a similar life span as humans.
- Centaurs are similar to horses because they can stand very soon after they are born.
- The centaurs that were in the Chronicles of Narnia were smart, not like the ones in Greek Mythology.
Citations []
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