Centaurs
Half-men and
half horses, the Centaurs lived on Mt Pelion in Thessaly. They were violent
and drunk, but also healers, and the centaur Chiron was so wise he became
the teacher of many heroes like Achilles,
Jason and Asclepius.
Heracles had chased
them away to Thessaly after the good centaur Pholos had invited him to dinner.
The smell of the meat made the other centaurs attack Pholos cave in order
to get the food, but Heracles killed some and banished the others. By accident
The centaurs were chased out of Thessaly after trying to abduct the wife of
the Lapith king Peirithoos at their weddingfeast.
Originally, the centaurs were pictured as a full man with a horse body: the
front legs belonged to the man and the back to a hose. Later, they took the
form we usually know.
