The origin of Centaurs

With this post I begin a new section, a section called Mythology and Fantasy. Mythology and fantasy is still source of inspiration for many artists, and many people are still interested in this ancient lore of legends. In all the history of humanity, people always have liked to hear good stories and tell good stories. Mythology and fantasy is a good way to learn, through heroes and creatures, about human relationships. We can define mythology as a series of stories of a civilization that try to explain the origin of the world. In a beginning stories were spread thought an oral way, and later written and told for generations. Tell this stories to people seeing their expectant eyes could be an eternal pleasure; but for those civilizations it was their truth, their beliefs. I begin this section with the centaurs, a mythological creature half human and half horse. Ixion (the Thesalia king) desired Hera, the wife of Zeus (the supreme God). Zeus knew this, so fooled Ixion modeling a cloud with the appearance of Hera; her name will be Nephele. Nephele and Ixion will have a son, a monstrous creature called Centaur. Centaur had relations with the Pelion's mares so this way the centaurs were born. Centaurs were of violent nature, ate raw meat and were very keen on drinking wine. They had brutal habits and used to take women by the force. Centaurs were invited to the Lapith king (Piritoo) wedding. They get drunk in the wedding and tried to kidnap the bride and rape the women guests. Lapiths were really enraged and began a combat, and Centaurs were thrown out from Thesalia. This battle was many times depicted in temples, utensils, figures... The victory of lapiths represents the victory of the reason over the savagery. Not every centaurs were cruel and aggressive. Stands out, for example: Pholo and Quiron. Pholo was kind and hospitable, and helped Hercules. And Quiron was the Aquiles teacher. In the literature doesn't exist the female version of centaur. It was the painter Zeuxis (5th century B.C.) who depicted centaur women. This video shows the drawings of Boris Vallejo, which is one of the artist who better represents the mythological world. -Emma Alvarez- © 2008 by Emma Alvarez. Link to this post without copying the text. Some Related Posts: If you liked this post, subscribe to Emma Alvarez Site or give yourself a gift Stumble it! Add me to your del.icio.us network