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Aphrodite Apollo Ares Artemis Athena Atlas Coeus Crius Cronus Demeter Dionysus Gaia Hades Hephaestus Hera Hermes Hestia Hyperion Iapetus Mnemosyne Oceanus Phobos Phoebe Poseidon Prometheus Rhea Tethys Themis Uranus Zeus
Bacchus Ceres Diana Juno Jupiter Mars Mercury Minerva Neptune Pluto Venus Vesta Vulcan
Amun Anubis Aten Atum Babi Bastet Bes Geb Hapi hathor heqet Horus Isis Khepri Khnum Khonsu Maat Nephthys Nut Osiris Ptah Ra Seshat Seth Shu Sobek Thoth
Alfheim Baldur Freya Freyr Frigg Heimdallr Helheim Idun Jotunheim Loki Nerthus Njord Odin Thor Tyr
Aengus Arawn Badb Brigid Cailleach Ceridwen Cernunnos Cu Chulainn Dagda Danu Gwydion Herne the Hunter Lugh Medb Morrigan Neit Nuada Taliesin Taranis
Chalchiuhtlicue Coatlicue Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Mixcoatl Ometeotl Quetzalcoatl Tezcatlipoca Tlaloc Tonatiuh Xipe Totec Xochiquetzal Xolotl
Amaterasu Ame no Uzume Benzaiten Bishamonten Daikokuten Ebisu Fujin Fukurokuju Inari Izanagi Kagutsuchi Raijin Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Caishen Cangjie Dragon King Eight Immortals Erlang Shen Fuxi Guanyin Hou Yi Huxian Jade Emperor King Yama Leizi Lu-ban Mazu Nezha Nuwa Pangu Shennong Sun Wukong Xiwangmu Yue Lao Zhong Kui
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    Pantheon Heroic Age Royal Houses Geographia Facts & Figures Genealogy Bibliography About Classical Myths
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  3. Centaurs
    Centaurus Cheiron Eurytion Nessus Pholus
  4. Centaurus

Centaurus

The ancestor and eponym of the Centaurs.

Centaurus was usually said to be a son of Ixion and the phantom Hera, made out of a cloud.

When Ixion tried to seduce or ravish the goddess Hera, her husband fashioned her look-alike from a cloud. Zeus set the phantom Hera in the king's bed chamber, as a trap for Ixion. When Ixion had sex with the cloud, Zeus caught him in the act, and sent Ixion to Tartarus,

According to Diodorus Siculus, Centaurus was a son of Apollo and the nymph Stilbe, who was a daughter of the river god Peneius and the naiad Creusa. Centaurus was also the brother of Lapithes, who was eponym of the Lapiths.

Centaurus mated with mares from the plains of Magnesia, in Thessaly, so that his children were cross-bred between humans and horses. The half-men, half-horses were called Centaurs.

The constellation Centaurus was probably him, but it was most likely the wise Centaur Cheiron.

Related Information

Name

Centaurus, Centauros, Κένταυρος.

Sources

Pythian Odes II was written by Pindar.

Library of History was written by Diodorus Siculus.

Related Articles

Ixion.

Jimmy Joe Timeless Myths

By Jimmy Joe

Centaurs:

  • • Centaurus
  • • Cheiron
  • • Eurytion
  • • Nessus
  • • Pholus
Centaurs

Centaurs

Background The Centaurs were a tribe of half-men and half-horses living in Magnesia, a coastal region in Thessaly. Centaurs were depicted in art to have the head, chest and arms of a man, while the rest of their body was that of a horse. There wer...

January 11th, 2006 • Jimmy Joe
Cheiron

Cheiron

Cheiron (Χείρων) was the most famous Centaur. Not only was Cheiron immortal, but he was one of the wisest beings on earth. Cheiron was the son of the Titan Cronus and Philyra, who was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. Cronus had raped Philyra wh...

January 11th, 2006 • Jimmy Joe
Ixion

Ixion

King of the Lapiths in Thessaly. Ixion was the son of Antion, the son of Periphas, and of Perimela, the daughter of Amythaon and sister of the seer Melampus . When Ixion married Dia, the daughter of Eioneus, Ixion refused to pay his father-in-law ...

March 17th, 2001 • Jimmy Joe
Lapith House of Thessaly

Lapith House of Thessaly

The family tree shown above lists the royal family of the Lapiths in Thessaly. The Lapiths ruled around the valley of the Peneius River in Thessaly. This family were the descendants of the river god Peneius and his wife Creusa, a daughter of Ge (G...

July 28th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
The Myth of the Lapiths vs Centaurs in Greek Mythology

The Myth of the Lapiths vs Centaurs in Greek Mythology

Lapiths vs Centaurs is an interesting and gripping tale about the two creatures that came face to face in a battle. The two belong to Greek mythology and their characters have been named and famed at various points in the mythology by the poets. T...

February 16th, 2024 • Ancient Literature
War of Lapiths and Centaurs

War of Lapiths and Centaurs

The war of the Lapiths and the Centaurs was one of the favourite subjects in Greek mythology, particularly in art and literature. When Peirithoüs, king of the Lapiths, invited the centaurs to his wedding, the centaurs who became drunk tried to abd...

August 8th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe
Ocyrrhoe

Ocyrrhoe

According to Ovid, Ocyrrhoe was the daughter of Aeolus and Chariclo. At birth, she was endowed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo . She later became the mother of Phasis by Apollo. Ocyrrhoe had been raped by Aeolus, the son of Hellen. So great wa...

June 1st, 2000 • Jimmy Joe
Pholus

Pholus

Pholus was one of the few Centaurs who was friendly towards mortals. Pholus was a friend of Heracles . Pholus lived in a cave at Mount Pholus, which was named after him; this mountain was in Arcadia. He had wine that would drive other Centaurs cra...

January 11th, 2006 • Jimmy Joe
Eurytion

Eurytion

A Centaur. Eurytion or Eurytus was one of the Centaurs involved in disrupting and fighting the Lapiths, at the wedding of Peirithous and Hippodameia. There were fighting for the land in Thessaly, particularly over the valley of the Peneius River. ...

January 11th, 2006 • Jimmy Joe
Phoroneus

Phoroneus

The river-god, Inachus (Ἴναχος), was the son of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys . Inachus was the first inhabitant of Argolis. The Inachus River flows through the valley of Argolis to the Gulf of Argolis. Inachus married a nymph named Melia, and bec...

April 24th, 1999 • Jimmy Joe

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