Refers to the representatives of the result of mixing two different entities: a man and a horse. From the first he got the head and torso with human arms, and from the second - the strong body of a horse with muscular limbs, hooves and a ponytail. Facial features are distinguished by animal rudeness. Often the image ends with a thick beard and horse ears. Traditionally, they belonged to the chestnut color, so the lower part did not contrast very much in color with the tanned human torso. Originally, centaurs were males. In some of the most ancient depictions of these creatures, two types of genitals are simultaneously represented: both a horse and a man.

Like skilled wild hunters, centaurs were often armed with a log, bow, spear, or simply a weighty stone. To their liking, these hybrids are violent, headstrong and unbridled, loving freedom. That is why the main habitat for them was mountain expanses not conquered by people or deep forest thickets.

In the art of war, centaurs were vastly superior to ordinary people. They possessed powerful strength, moved very quickly, possessed skills of javelin throwing, perfected to the heights of mastery. Nothing constrained their movements in battle: they did not wear any clothes, let alone armor. Sometimes they just put on a cloak in order to look more decent. A shield was used to defend against the enemy. Some Greek warriors more than once turned to the centaurs for combat lessons or measured their strength with them in order to evaluate their own skills.

The attitude of the centaurs, as they are called in a Latinized manner, towards rational beings was completely ambiguous. Some were so hostile that people tried their best to avoid meeting them. They became especially violent and uncontrollable in a drunken stupor. Others could offer their help to humanity. But most often it concerned exclusively young and beautiful girls. Only now, in most cases, no one has ever seen these women anymore.

One legend tells of a foolish merchant. The centaur met him wounded on the road and, showing compassion, offered his help. Instead of gratitude, the fool decided to throw a saddle on the freedom-loving creature. Angry with the offender, the centaur, without hesitation, killed the merchant.

How the centaurs appeared

There are several versions of the emergence of the first centaurs. Mythology assumes the presence of divine roots in the origin of these creatures. In ancient times, a tribe called the Lapiths lived in the north of Thessaly. They were ruled by King Ixion, who was the blood son of the god of war, called Ares. Ixion had the audacity to fall in love with the goddess Hera herself. And in order to settle the emerging conflict, Zeus created from a light cloud an exact copy of Hera, which he called Nefela. From this union of Ixion and the goddess Nephela, the first strange creature appeared with four hooves, but with a human head. The unusual offspring were exiled to Mount Pelion, where they took up his upbringing.

Having matured, half-man - half-horse entered into close relations with the breeding mares that lived in this area. The offspring were the same centaurs, but of both sexes, which made it possible to further reproduce traditional naturally... In addition, centaurs began to choose for themselves not only four-legged friends, but also ordinary representatives of the beautiful part of humanity or nymphs as companions in life. These half-animals had enough passion and fire for several wives at once.

Subsequently, the centaurs more than once entered into battles with the Lapiths, intending to appropriate the local women for themselves. After Hercules defeated them, the remaining individuals dispersed throughout Greece.

The ancients also tell of a more practical approach to the origin of the myths about the legendary centaurs. It is about those distant times when the inhabitants of Ancient Greece used horses for riding, only harnessing them to chariots. It was, first of all, prestigious and showed the corresponding level of prosperity. But, most importantly, in battle this method of movement was much more efficient and safer for the soldiers. But the wild nomadic tribes have already mastered the skills of horseback riding. And when such riders came close to the borders of ancient Greece, local residents unknowingly, it seemed that they represent the unity of man with a horse.

Centaur Chiron

Despite some divine origin of centaurs, they, like ordinary people and animals, were mortals. Only a few were endowed with eternal life. The famous Chiron became one of these representatives. He was an exceptionally wise centaur, who, in addition to mastering military skills, was well versed in healing issues, was an expert on music. Unlike his brethren, he had a kind, open heart. Its end is sadly described. Hercules accidentally wounded him with an arrow, the tip of which was poisoned with a deadly poison from the Lernaean hydra. The pain from the wound caused Chiron truly inhuman suffering. Eternal life in torment was foreseen by him simply unbearable. He voluntarily renounced his immortality, for which Zeus freed Prometheus, and immortalized Chiron in the firmament in the form of the constellation Centaurus.

Ancient Greek mythology is filled with amazing creatures, the history of which is mysterious and very interesting. Centaurs in the minds of the ancient Greeks were wild, mortal creatures, they were a hybrid of a man and a horse. It is believed that initially the centaurs were considered the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. The attitude of centaurs in myths to ancient heroes varies, from a mentoring attitude to open enmity.

The name "centaur" itself, like many other Greek words, consists of two roots: "Kent"- prick and "Taurus"- bull. Scientists interpret the word formation "centaur" as a bull hunter, a bull driver. Some researchers suggest that the image of a centaur among the Greeks was formed after their first acquaintance with nomadic tribes (Taurus, Kassites, Turks). This can also explain the hot, ferocious disposition of the centaurs, and the connection of the mythical creature with the bulls, since the basis of the economy of the nomadic tribes was cattle breeding.

If the very image of the centaurs can be associated with the surprise of the Greeks from the meeting with horse riders, then the Greeks invented their mythological origin themselves. There are several versions of where the half-human-half-horse originated from. According to one version, the god Apollo made acquaintance with the beautiful nymph Stilba. They had two sons: Centaur and Lapith. Lapith was a giant or half-tree, while the Centaur also came out distorted - with a human head and torso and with a horse's body and legs. Both had abundant offspring, which, for some unknown reason, became mortally hostile.

According to another legend, the Centaur was the son of Ixion, the son of the god of war Ares. Ixion ended up on Olympus thanks to the pity of Zeus, where he fell in love with Hera. Despite the angry nature of Zeus, the supreme god was not angry, but created a copy of Hera from the cloud, calling her Nephele. Here in the marriage of Ixion and Nephela, the Centaur appeared.

V antique times centaurs were common creatures that lived throughout Greece. Later, the habitat of centaurs was greatly reduced, it was believed that they survived only in the Greek mountains of northern Thessaly and Epirus. One of the latest information about centaurs dates back to the 9th century AD, but the mythical creatures did not disappear, but simply learned to hide well. Mortal centaurs had one big common flaw - they were not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages. In the intoxication, the half-man-half-horse became uncontrollable, violent and ferocious. At the same time, they were considered honest and straightforward, although there were also insidious individuals.

The centaurs were very good in military affairs, they were distinguished by excellent physical strength, speed, mobility, were masters of bow and spear. They used only shields as protection, and only cloaks were recognized as clothing. In the view of the ancient Greeks, centaurs were considered fierce creatures, typical barbarians, but in modern fantasy they are represented by completely different: wise, philosophers, astrologers, healers. The centaurs owe their good nature and scholarship to Chiron, the "fake centaur." Chiron was the son of Crohn himself, that is, he was the half-brother of the supreme Olympic gods. He looked like the other centaurs, but was immortal. Chiron chose Mount Pelion as his permanent habitat, and did not tolerate intruders. But he was happy to pass on his knowledge to those who wanted to learn. According to legend, the lists of his students included Orpheus, Jason, Hercules, Asclepius and other equally outstanding Greeks. Today you can easily get acquainted with the culture of Ancient Greece, see with your own eyes the heritage of the Hellenes.

The image of the centaur came to modern world from ancient Greek myths. An unusual supernatural creature amazed with its savagery and violent disposition. These heroes of myths lived in dense impenetrable forests and high mountains. Because of their belligerence, centaurs symbolize the animal side of man.

Centaur - who is it?

Intemperance and unprecedented cruelty - this is the main difference between the centaur, being huge in size, this creature was the embodiment of power and mighty strength. The centaur is a large mythical, fabulous creature of half-man-half-horse. Living in a herd, they constantly fought with those who lived in the neighborhood, denied all manifestations of civilization, etc. In the paintings, centaurs can be seen with the gods of winemaking Dionysus and love Eros. This once again speaks of their licentiousness in love and addiction to alcohol.

Did centaurs exist?

Thinking about whether such creatures could exist in the real world, it is difficult to come to a consensus. Plutarch, the philosopher of ancient Greece, once described the story of how a shepherd gave him a foal that a horse had just given birth to. Unusually, the cub was with the head and hands of a human. It turns out that centaurs existed, because Plutarch is a serious philosopher, but at the same time, he really loved to joke. So this story can be a good prank for posterity. Were there really centaurs? This question remains a mystery, as does the mystery of the Egyptian pyramids.

What does a centaur look like?

In many sources, the description of this unusual creature is somewhat different from each other. The centaur is a mythical creature that accommodates two different kinds at the same time - a man and a horse. The resemblance to a person is noted in the head and body to the waist, the centaur has human hands, the horse got the body, muscular strong limbs, there are hooves and a tail. On the face of the centaur is written the coarseness characteristic only of animals, they have long hair and a thick beard, you can see ears like a horse.

There is no contrasting transition between the body of a man and a horse, since centaurs were considered bay horses, and their human body was tanned in the sun. It is generally accepted that the centaurs were only males. And ancient images show that they had the genitals of both a man and a stallion. Almost nothing is known about female centaurs.

How did the centaurs appear?

Mythology says that these unusual creatures trace their ancestry from the king of the Lapiths Ixion and his mistress, the goddess Nephela. As a result of this love, the first representatives of this species appeared in the Pelephronia cave. On Mount Pelion, they were raised by nymphs, and upon reaching maturity, young centaurs entered into a relationship with mares. This is how the centaur in mythology began its history.

Types of centaurs

In addition to the classic look, there are other variations of these creatures. But the features of a person are always preserved in conjunction with any beast.

Most often, centaurs were characterized as wild and unrestrained, with an unpredictable display of violence, creatures in which the animal nature predominated. Centaurs were distinguished by their violence, a penchant for drunkenness and hostility to people.But among them were also known wise centaurs, first of all, the already mentioned Foul and Chiron, friends and teachers of Hercules and others.

The popular poetic plot of antiquity, reflected in the Parthenon of Phidias (c. 490 BC - c. 430 BC), sung in Ovid's Metamorphoses (43 BC - 17 AD). BC) and inspired Rubens, was centauromachia - the battle with the centaurs, which flared up because of the unbridled disposition of the latter at the wedding feast of the Lapith king Pirithous.
Homer's Odyssey also tells the story of how the centaur Eurytion, invited to the wedding of Pirithous,drank wine and tried to dishonor the bride. As punishment, they cut off his ears and nose and threw him out. The centaur called his fellows to revenge, and after a while a battle took place in which the centaurs were defeated.

If in Greece the centaur was the embodiment of animal qualities incompatible with human nature, unbridled passions and immoderate sexuality, then in Ancient rome he turned into a peaceful companion of Dionysus and Eros. The greatest contribution to the formation of the Roman version of the image of the centaur was made by Ovid (43 BC - approx. 18 AD) in Metamorphoses.

The death of the centaurs and their role in the death of Hercules

The centaurs lived in the mountains of Thessaly until the day when they were defeated by the Lapiths and Hercules scattered them throughout Hellas. Most of the centaurs, according to the tragedy of Euripides "Hercules" (416 BC), was killed by Hercules. Those who escaped from him heard the sirens, stopped eating and died of hunger. According to one story, Poseidon hid them in a mountain at Eleusis.
The centaur Nessus, according to Sophocles, played a fatal role in the death of Hercules. He tried to kidnap Hercules' wife Deianira, but was struck down by an arrow with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. Dying, Nessus decided to take revenge on Hercules, advising Deianira to collect his blood, as she supposedly would help her keep Hercules' love. Deianira impregnated Hercules' clothes with the poisonous blood of Ness, and he died in terrible agony.

Centaurids - female centaurs

Along with male centaurs, Greek legends sometimes described centaurids(centaurs). Their image is quite rare in myths and paintings, and even then, they are more often characterized as nymphs. Few authors mentioning the existence of centaurids described them as being beautiful physically and spiritually. The most famous centaurid was Gilonoma, wife of the centaur Killar (Zillar).

Varieties of centaurs. Centaurids

There are quite a few variations appearance centaurs. Sometimes they were even depicted as winged, with a second dragon's head (in Babylon, Crete). The term “to entavroids". Centaurids were especially popular during the Middle Ages. These included onocentaur(donkey man), bukentaur(bull man), kerast(buffalo man), leontocentaur(lion man), ichthyocentaur(a creature that combines in its appearance the elements of fish, horses and humans). The most ancient terracotta figurines of centaurids with a human head and the body of a buffalo from the 7th century. BC. met in Cyprus.

And from Ixion the Titan she gave birth to Nephel a curiosity: not a man, not a horse, not a tree, not a titanium, not a god or a beast, but both, and another, and third: he was a horse, and a man, and a tree was a piece of the beast. , god and titan. He was mortal and he was immortal. "

It was precisely from the moment of my puberty that one problem began to worry me - why did all my friends girls go to the cavalry in a crowd?

They looked after the horses, took out the manure, cleaned them with a brush. And only occasionally did they manage to get on the horse! And at that moment I saw happiness in their eyes! But what interior ... The gaze was directed deep into myself, to the very bottom of the body ... But now women will start scolding me - do not invent it! We also love cats and dogs! So, but not so!

But I'd rather talk about centaurs. A man-horse is such ... Why did people believe in this myth for millennia? Not for the same reason? We still live among myths.

The Greeks created two myths: Amazons are for men, and Centaurs are for women. And for thousands of years people have believed! In them, in vampires, zombies, goblin, ghouls ... They believe!

The centaur has horse ears, and his face is rough and bearded. Typically a centaur naked and armed with a log, stone or bow. In especially ancient images, the centaur is endowed with both human and equine genitals. Maybe the reason is this?

The centaurs were quite lustful and often chased and kidnapped women. The dream of many women)))

Since ancient times, philosophers have thought about what should be inculcated in a person so that he would take deliberate lies at face value? How can a myth be made true? Now they came up with "crowd induction", NLP, mass consciousness control generators ...

What attribute should a non-existent something be endowed in order for them to recognize it as existing? If you like, you can formulate the problem as follows: how to deceive people into thinking that something exists?

I'm not talking about a magnificent independent Ukraine now! About the simple - about the centaurs.

And for thousands of years people have been looking for proof of their existence. Along with sensations, flying saucers publish the results of excavations by archaeologists. They dug up giant skeletons ... And the people believe! Here are skeletons that look like Amazons! A little bit more! And a miracle will be shown to us! The myth will become true ... There are noticeably fewer sensations about centaurs - half-scotch of some kind. By the way...

The famous Kapitsa was called the centaur, since a centaur is a half-man, half-cat. And Kapitsa, as those who knew him closely say, was man in relation to his own, and cattle in relation to strangers ...

Such a handsome man! .. Shall we continue?

A bit scientific.

Also in the Odyssey, Homer describes the young centaurs. The question of how the centaurs' cubs were fed - by breast or udder - has not been described.

Starting from the 19th century, interest in the image of the centaur began to increase both among writers and poets and among artists. In the 21st century, centaurs become characters not only in myths and literary works (especially in the fantasy genre), but also in computer games.

Letter

How bitter is the taste of earthly laurel ...
Rodin forever chained
In the half-mad gesture of the Centaur
Incompatibility of the two principles.
Wringing my hands in madness,
He beats in hopeless torment
The earth moans and hums
Under the heavy convulsion of hooves.
But I understand the infinity
I know only integrity in the world,
I have the mirror image of calm waters,
My soul is like a starry sky
Around the native abyss sings, -
I'm all neighing and flying!

M. Voloshin

Rodin, Centaur. Sculpture straight from Voloshin's verse))

(Another name: "Soul and Body, or Centaress")

Any girl dreams about a wedding .... And with a horse? !!

But men do not miss!

Is this the product of the rape of a mare?

And here the correct man of the Centaur flattens:

Don't seduce our women ...

Did you talk about the skeletons of the Amazons? And here is the skeleton of a centaur!

Don't believe me? Stands in the museum ...

And there may be such a centaur

Or such

Anything can happen, comrades women! And we are handsome in comparison with them. It's true?))))

There was such a Soviet film - "Centaurs", a two-part film directed by V. Zhalakeyavichus, filmed in the genre of socio-political drama. Starring -

Donatas Banionis
Regimantas Adomaitis
Juozas Budraitis
Evgeny Lebedev
Valentin Gaft

And what is the selection ?! Women were thrilled in the cinemas, because there was Mihai Volontir))
Take a look. Well worth the time ...

But besides centaurs, peasant horses, there is also a peasant donkey! Onocentaur is a donkey man. The dream of a woman who knows for sure - all men kazly !!!))

In Florence there is this:

Sandro Botticelli
Pallas and the Centaur, 1483

A beautiful fragile woman tames a wild creature with a graceful gesture. The centaur, as it were, reveals his own weakness in the face of a graceful female power... A woman's dream comes true - the man is subdued))

A little more scientific.

“The image of the centaur, apparently, arose in Babylon in the 2nd millennium BC. The Kassite nomads who came to Mesopotamia from Iran around 1750 BC fought a fierce struggle with Egypt and Assyria for dominion in the Middle East. the borders of their empire, the Kassites erected huge stone statues of the guardian gods, among them - the centaurs.

The Kassites, who had extensive trade connections, brought the centaur to the Mycenaean civilization, which also disappeared by the middle of the 12th century BC. From Crete, he came to Ancient Greece... A depiction of Theseus' battle with a centaur on an amphora from the 8th century BC. indicates that by this time the Greeks had already managed to develop a mythology that absorbed the Mycenaean heroes.

In ancient Greek culture, the image and symbolism of the centaur underwent significant changes. The centaur Chiron (and, to a lesser extent, the centaur Foul) was considered the wise patron of humanity. He was usually depicted with laurel branches in both hands. In the Iliad, Chiron is a healer, friend and teacher of heroes, the creator of ingenious devices for waging war, and, finally, "the most righteous of the centaurs."

However, in general, the centaur remained a symbol of drunkenness and violence. This duality, perhaps, goes back to the times of the Kassites, who depicted a centaur with two faces - a human and a dragon ...

Then one day the centaur got drunk and -

Out through the canopy and the fatal brass to the centaur

The nose and ears were cut off. And he, damaged by reason,

He went away, carrying away the fruits of his blindness.

From that time on, enmity broke out between husbands and centaurs.

First of all, he hurt himself, having loaded himself with wine. "

Homer "Odyssey"

We, ordinary men, do not like centaurs for sure!

The controversy over the origin of the word "centaur" has never subsided. According to various versions, it could come from the Latin "centuria" - "hundred" or the Greek "centron" - "goat", "kenteo" - "to hunt, pursue" and "tavros" - "bull" (248). Also, "there is an assumption that the word" centaur "comes from" gandharva "; in Vedic mythology," gandharvas "are the younger gods who rule the horses of the Sun.

In Dante's Divine Comedy, the Centaurs of the seventh circle are "guardians and stewards of eternal justice":

"Between him and the steep they raced one after another

Centaurs, as they used to be on earth,

Chasing the beast, they raced in a free meadow.
…
Their crowds are scurrying around the river,

Shooting at those who, for their sins,

Will emerge too much from the bloody wave. "

The nineteenth century ... It turns out: Chiron himself is a Centaur !!! For Goethe, Chiron is the personification of male beauty - "he is half-human and flawless in running."

Faust Goethe:

The earth seems to be shaking

Under the gallop of a pacer

I do not believe myself

To your eyes!

What a meeting!

How will I answer?

A skilful, ardent rider rushes.

He is inextricably fused with the horse.

Oh horse and half-man,

Everything, everything told me your run.

And here is my ideal! Slender centaur ...