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 the bride price in full. So Eioneus took the mares from Ixion as a security. Under the guise of paying Eioneus the bride price, Ixion invited him to his kingdom. Ixion then had the unsuspecting father-in-law tossed into a fire pit.

It was said that Ixion committed the first murder of kin. For such a deed, no one was willing to purify Ixion. Zeus decided to purify him. Zeus did so in order to seduce Ixion's wife, Dia. For this reason, some say that Peirithoüs (Peirithous) was the son of Zeus, not the son of Ixion.

Ixion tried to take revenge upon Zeus by seducing Hera. When Zeus learned of Ixion's plan, Zeus fashioned a cloud to look like his wife and consort. Most authors said that the cloud or false Hera was named Nephele. When the unsuspecting Ixion boasted of having slept with Hera, Zeus sent him to Tartarus where he was to suffer from eternal punishment. Ixion was chained to a fiery wheel which revolved around from ceaseless wind.

As for the phantom-like cloud that looked like Hera? Well, it gave birth to a son named Centaurus. This Centaurus coupled with the Magnesian mares which produced offspring that were part-men and part-horses. These creatures became known as the Centaurs or Hippocentaurs.

To see the family tree of the Lapiths, see the House of Thessaly (Lapiths).

A different version says that Centaurus was the son of Apollo and Stilbe, the daughter of river god Peneius and a nymph Creusa. Also, Centaurus was the brother of Lapithus or Lapithes.