Centaurs in Myth and Art

Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being as wild as untamed horses, and were said to have inhabited the region of Magnesia and Mount Pelion in Thessaly, the Foloi oak forest in Elis, and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia. The most common theory holds that the idea of centaurs came from the first reaction of a non-riding culture, as in the Minoan Aegean world, to nomads who were mounted on horses. The theory suggests that such riders would appear as half-man, half-animal. Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported that the Aztecs also had this misconception about Spanish cavalrymen. The Lapith tribe of Thessaly, who were the kinsmen of the Centaurs in myth, were described by Greek writers as the inventors of horse-riding. 

The Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapiths who, according to one origin myth, would have been cousins to the centaurs. The battle, called the Centauromachy, was caused by the centaurs' attempt to carry off Hippodamia and the rest of the Lapith women on the day of Hippodamia's marriage to Pirithous, who was the king of the Lapithae and a son of Ixion. The hero Theseus was present and helped the Lapiths by assisting Pirithous in driving off the centaurs. Another Lapith hero, Caeneus, who was invulnerable to weapons, was beaten into the earth by Centaurs wielding rocks and the branches of trees. In her article "The Centaur: Its History and Meaning in Human Culture," Elizabeth Lawrence claims that the contests between the centaurs and the Lapiths typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

Though female centaurs, called centaurides or centauresses, are not mentioned in early Greek literature and art, they do appear occasionally in later antiquity. A Macedonian mosaic of the 4th century BCE is one of the earliest examples of the centauress in art. Ovid also mentions a centauress named Hylonomei who committed suicide when her husband Cyllarus was killed in the war with the Lapiths.

Mycenaean pottery found at Ugarit (in modern Syria) is thought to depict centaurs and suggests the myth originated in the Bronze Age. In Greek art of the Archaic period, centaurs are depicted in three different forms. Some centaurs are depicted with a human torso attached to the body of a horse at the withers, where the horse's neck would be. This form, designated "Class A" by Professor Paul Baur, later became standard. "Class B" centaurs are depicted with a human body and legs joined at the waist to the hindquarters of a horse. In some cases centaurs of both Class A and Class B appear together. A third type, designated "Class C", depicts centaurs with human forelegs terminating in hooves. Baur describes this as an apparent development of Aeolic art (from northwest Asia Minor and some of the offshore islands including Lesbos), which never became particularly widespread. At a later period, paintings on some amphorae depict winged centaurs.

Fresco depicting a Centaur from Pompeii at the NAM Naples courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Simon Burchell.

Old Centaur teased by Eros. Roman copy (1st–2nd centuries CE) of a Greek original of the 2nd century BCE at The Louvre, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Painting by Sebastiano Ricci, of centaurs at the marriage of Pirithous, king of the Lapithae courtesy of The Yorck Project and Wikimedia Commons.

"Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts" was made for the dining room of Hadrian's Villa and estimated to be made between 120-130 A.D. The mosaic now resides in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in Germany courtesy of the Google Art Project and Wikimedia Commons.

Centaur and figure playing dual flutes on Roman Sarcophagus 2nd-3rd century CE that I photographed at at the Terme di Diocleziano in Rome.

Centaurs pulling a cart on a Roman Sarcophagus 2nd-3rd century CE that I photographed at at the Terme di Diocleziano in Rome.

Hercules Battling the Centaur Nessus by Giovanni Bologna 1599 that I photographed in Florence, Italy.

Theseus and the Centaur by Antoine-Lous Barye French 1849 cast 1880 Bronze that I photographed at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco, California.

Bronze man and "Type B" centaur Greek Geometric mid-8th century BCE that I photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

The remains of a fresco of a centaur that I found in the Atrium of the Villa San Marco in the Stabiae Excavation near Naples, Italy

Fragment of a shield strap with mythological scenes of the centaur Nessos Greek made in Argos by Aristodamos 575 BCE Bronze that I photographed at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.

Relief of Centaur carrying off a nymph from the Via Praenestina marble Roman Imperial Period that I photographed at the Terme di Diocleziano in Rome.

Old Centaur from Hadrian's Villa 2nd century CE Roman copy of 2nd century BCE Hellenistic original that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome

Young Centaur laughing at Eros's wounds from Hadrian's Villa 2nd century CE Roman copy of 2nd century BCE Hellenistic original that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

A frieze depicting a centaur recovered from the ancient Roman theater that I photographed at Orange, France 2nd century CE

A frieze depicting a centaur recovered from the ancient Roman theater that I photographed at Orange, France 2nd century CE

A frieze depicting a centaur recovered from the ancient Roman theater that I photographed at Orange, France 2nd century CE

A frieze depicting a centaur recovered from the ancient Roman theater that I photographed at Orange, France 2nd century CE

Centaur Mosaic discovered near the ancient Roman theater at Orange, France. late 2nd century CE - early 3rd century CE that I photographed in Orange, France.

Centaur Mosaic discovered near the ancient Roman theater at Orange, France. late 2nd century CE - early 3rd century CE that I photographed in Orange, France.

Centaur on Roman Sarcophaus 3rd century CE (?) Marble that I photographed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

Agate Cameo sculpture of a centaur playing a double flute, 1st century BCE (modern period frame) at the Cabinet des médailles, Paris courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

Antonio Canova, Theseus Defeats the Centaur (1805-1819) by Antonio Canova at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Georges Jansoone.

One of my favorite frescos - Achilles and Chiron fresco from the Basilica in Herculaneum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Bronze centaur, late 5th century B.C.E., Greek, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The boulder included in this work suggests that the source of inspiration was the myth of Kaineus, a Lapith invulnerable to man-made weapons, who could only be overcome by being beaten into the ground with trees and stones.