; or people from the city of Pelephronium, where a way was found to tame horses.

According to another approach, the image of centaurs dates back to the time of the collapse of the Greek-Aryan linguistic unity, and the word itself, like other Ind. gandharva, was borrowed into Proto-Greek from some substrate language. If this version is accepted, speculation about horsemen becomes groundless, and the accepted etymology of this word should be recognized as a later folk rethinking. In general, even semantically, the images of centaurs and gandharvas are very similar.

Ideas about centaurs

Two partially preserved terracotta figurines found during excavations in Ugarit among other samples of Mycenaean ceramics are tentatively identified as centaurs, which allows us to speak of the Bronze Age as the period of origin of this myth. A painted terracotta figurine of a centaur was found in the "hero's tomb" in Lefkandi. A well-known bronze statuette of the Geometric Style period, representing a warrior face to face with a centaur, is in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In ancient Greek mythology

Centaurs were considered descendants of Ixion and Nephele - either direct, or through a common ancestor of the Centaur tribe, who foaled the Magnesian mares. In another version, the centaurs were raised on Pelion by nymphs and, having matured, entered into a relationship with mares, from which the two-natural centaurs were born. Ancient Greek authors removed some centaurs from this genealogical series, probably in order to ennoble them. So, Chiron was considered the son of Kronos and the mare Filira, Fol - the son of Silena. Sometimes centaurs are considered the offspring of Poseidon, which is explained in the mythological past of this deity, totemically associated with horses and having a horse as an attributive animal.

Typically, centaurs are shown as wild and unrestrained creatures, in which animal nature predominates, but wise centaurs are also known, primarily Phol and Chiron, friends and teachers of Hercules and some other heroes. According to ideas, they lived in the mountains of Thessaly until the day when Hercules scattered them throughout Hellas. Most of them were killed by Hercules (see Foul (centaur)). Those who escaped from Hercules listened to the Sirens, stopped eating and starved to death. According to one story, Poseidon hid them in a mountain at Eleusis.

A popular poetic plot of antiquity was centauromachia, the battle of the Lapiths with the centaurs, which flared up because of the unbridled temper of the latter at the wedding feast of the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous - Eurytus tried to kidnap the bride of Pirithous.

Hercules is found in stories about centaurs. In one myth, during the campaign for the Erifman boar, the hero fought with centaurs named Ankiy, Agriy, Orey, Giley. Pilenor was washing the wound from the arrow of Hercules in the river, which is why the river acquired a bad smell. Foul - accidentally scratched by the poisoned arrow of Hercules when he performed the fifth feat, and died. Homad - tried to dishonor Eurystheus' sister Alcyone and was killed by Hercules. Hercules himself was eventually killed by the centaur as well. It is described that the centaur Ness tried to kidnap Hercules' wife Dejanira, but was struck down by an arrow with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. Dying, Ness decided to take revenge and advised Dejanira to collect her blood, as she supposedly would help her keep the love of Hercules. Dejanira soaked the clothes of Hercules with the poisonous blood of Nessus, and he died in terrible agony.

Chiron is the teacher of Achilles, Jason and other heroes.

Appearance and qualities of centaurs

Most often, the centaur is depicted as a horse, in place of the neck of which a human torso is placed.

The wisest centaurs in antiquity had a special image. Usually their front legs were human, which emphasized their civilization, while the entire back of the body remained equine. Chiron was almost always dressed, often with human ears. Foul, on the contrary, is usually naked and only with horse ears. .

female centaurs, or centaurids(lat. Centaurides, colloquially centaurs) were rarely seen in painting and myths, playing mainly the role of episodic characters, and they were often confused with nymphs. At the same time, few authors who mention their existence described them as physically and spiritually beautiful creatures. The most famous centaurid is Gilonoma, the wife of Killar (Zillar). She is the only woman of the centaur family to attend the wedding of Pirithous, where she lost her husband and then committed suicide in grief.

Artists and sculptors of all eras often turned to the image of a centaur. The centauromachy scenes were especially popular.

In the Middle Ages, images of centaurs appear in the miniatures of Arabic and European cosmological treatises among the signs of the Zodiac.

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.

In the culture of other nations

Gopatshah - in Iranian mythology - a bull with a human torso.

The centaur was depicted on coins minted in the Serpukhov-Borovsk principality in the 14th century.

It is noteworthy that during the Spanish conquest of Central America, conquistadors on horseback also appeared to the Indians, who knew only llamas and tapirs, as one creature with a horse.

The Indians had never seen horses before, and it seemed to them that the horse and the rider were one creature, powerful and merciless. The meadows and fields were filled with Indians fleeing to the nearest forest.

see also

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Notes

1. (English)
2. (English)
5. Palefath. About the incredible 1; Heraclitus the allegorist. About incredible 5 in short
6. First Vatican Mythographer II 61.
7. Napolskikh V.V.
8. Shear, Ione Mylonas (2002). "Mycenaean Centaurs at Ugarit". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 122 . DOI:10.2307/3246210. ISSN.
9. . Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
10. Diodorus Siculus. Historical Library IV 70, 1
11. Euripides. Hercules 364-373
12. Lycophron. Alexandra 671&comm.; Ptolemy Gefestion // Commentary by D. O. Torshilov in the book. Hygin. Myths. SPb., 2000. S. 58
14. - Fantasy world
16. Ovid. Metamorphosis X 223
18. Nonn. Acts of Dionysus V 611-615; XIV 193-202; XXXII 71
19. Aristotle. Poetics 1
20. Notes by A. A. Grigoryeva, B. M. Nikolsky in the book. Athenaeus. The feast of the sages. Book. 1-8. M., 2003. S. 544

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Links

• on the Encyclopedia of Fictional Creatures website
• Myths of the peoples of the world. M., 1991-92. In 2 vols. T. 1. S. 638-639, Lubker F. Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. M., 2001. In 3 vols. T. 1. S. 313; Pseudo Apollodorus. Mythological Library II 5, 4 next

Initial deities Titans Titanides Children of the Titans Olympic gods Other Olympians Gods water element Main Chthonic deities Main born on earth Earth

An excerpt characterizing the Centaur

Shortly after the prince's departure, so soon that he could not yet reach Semyonovsky, the prince's adjutant returned from him and reported to his lordship that the prince was asking for troops.
Kutuzov grimaced and sent an order to Dokhturov to take command of the first army, and asked the prince, without whom, as he said, he could not do at these important moments, he asked to return to himself. When the news of the capture of Murat was brought and the staff congratulated Kutuzov, he smiled.
“Wait, gentlemen,” he said. - The battle is won, and there is nothing unusual in the capture of Murat. But it is better to wait and rejoice. “However, he sent an adjutant to pass through the troops with this news.
When Shcherbinin galloped up from the left flank with a report about the occupation of the fleches and Semenovsky by the French, Kutuzov, guessing from the sounds of the battlefield and Shcherbinin’s face that the news was bad, stood up, as if stretching his legs, and, taking Shcherbinin’s arm, took him aside .
“Go, my dear,” he said to Yermolov, “see if anything can be done.”
Kutuzov was in Gorki, in the center of the position of the Russian troops. Napoleon's attack on our left flank was repulsed several times. In the center, the French did not move further than Borodin. From the left flank, Uvarov's cavalry forced the French to flee.
At three o'clock the French attacks ceased. On all the faces coming from the battlefield, and on those who stood around him, Kutuzov read an expression of tension that reached the highest degree. Kutuzov was pleased with the success of the day beyond expectation. But physical strength left the old man. Several times his head sank low, as if falling, and he dozed off. He was served dinner.
Wing adjutant Wolzogen, the same one who, passing by Prince Andrei, said that the war should be im Raum verlegon [transferred into space (German)], and whom Bagration hated so much, drove up to Kutuzov during lunch. Wolzogen came from Barclay with a report on the progress of affairs on the left flank. The prudent Barclay de Tolly, seeing the crowds of the wounded fleeing and the disorganized behinds of the army, having weighed all the circumstances of the case, decided that the battle was lost, and with this news he sent his favorite to the commander-in-chief.
Kutuzov chewed the fried chicken with difficulty, and with narrowed, cheerful eyes looked at Wolzogen.
Wolzogen, casually stretching his legs, with a half-contemptuous smile on his lips, went up to Kutuzov, lightly touching his visor with his hand.
Wolzogen treated his Serene Highness with a certain affected carelessness, intended to show that he, as a highly educated military man, leaves the Russians to make an idol out of this old, useless man, while he himself knows with whom he is dealing. “Der alte Herr (as the Germans called Kutuzov in their circle) macht sich ganz bequem, [The old gentleman calmly settled down (German)] thought Wolzogen and, looking sternly at the plates that stood in front of Kutuzov, began to report to the old gentleman the state of affairs on the left flank as Barclay ordered him and as he himself saw and understood him.
- All points of our position are in the hands of the enemy and there is nothing to recapture, because there are no troops; they are running, and there is no way to stop them,” he reported.
Kutuzov, stopping to chew, stared at Wolzogen in surprise, as if not understanding what he was being told. Wolzogen, noticing the excitement of des alten Herrn, [the old gentleman (German)], said with a smile:
- I did not consider myself entitled to hide from your lordship what I saw ... The troops are in complete disorder ...
- You saw? Did you see? .. - Kutuzov shouted with a frown, quickly getting up and advancing on Wolzogen. “How dare you… how dare you…!” he shouted, making menacing gestures with shaking hands and choking. - How dare you, my dear sir, say this to me. You don't know anything. Tell General Barclay from me that his information is incorrect and that the real course of the battle is known to me, the commander-in-chief, better than to him.
Wolzogen wanted to object something, but Kutuzov interrupted him.
- The enemy is repulsed on the left and defeated on the right flank. If you have not seen well, dear sir, then do not allow yourself to say what you do not know. Please go to General Barclay and convey to him my indispensable intention to attack the enemy tomorrow, ”Kutuzov said sternly. Everyone was silent, and one could hear one heavy breathing of the out of breath old general. - Repulsed everywhere, for which I thank God and our brave army. The enemy is defeated, and tomorrow we will drive him out of the sacred Russian land, - said Kutuzov, crossing himself; and suddenly burst into tears. Wolzogen, shrugging his shoulders and twisting his lips, silently stepped aside, wondering at uber diese Eingenommenheit des alten Herrn. [on this tyranny of the old gentleman. (German)]
“Yes, here he is, my hero,” Kutuzov said to the plump, handsome black-haired general, who at that time was entering the mound. It was Raevsky, who had spent the whole day at the main point of the Borodino field.
Raevsky reported that the troops were firmly in their places and that the French did not dare to attack anymore. After listening to him, Kutuzov said in French:
– Vous ne pensez donc pas comme lesautres que nous sommes obliges de nous retirer? [So you don't think, like the others, that we should retreat?]
- Au contraire, votre altesse, dans les affaires indecises c "est loujours le plus opiniatre qui reste victorieux," Raevsky answered, "et mon opinion ... [On the contrary, your grace, in indecisive matters, the one who is more stubborn remains the winner, and my opinion …]
- Kaisarov! shouted Kutuzov to his adjutant. - Sit down and write an order for tomorrow. And you,” he turned to another, “drive along the line and announce that tomorrow we will attack.
While the conversation with Raevsky was going on and the order was being dictated, Wolzogen returned from Barclay and reported that General Barclay de Tolly would like to have a written confirmation of the order that the field marshal had given.
Kutuzov, without looking at Wolzogen, ordered that this order be written, which, quite thoroughly, in order to avoid personal responsibility, the former commander-in-chief wanted to have.
And by an indefinable, mysterious connection that maintains the same mood throughout the army, called the spirit of the army and constituting the main nerve of the war, Kutuzov's words, his order for battle for tomorrow, were transmitted simultaneously to all parts of the army.
Far from the very words, not the very order, were transmitted in the last chain of this connection. There was not even anything similar in those stories that were passed on to each other at different ends of the army, to what Kutuzov said; but the meaning of his words was communicated everywhere, because what Kutuzov said did not follow from cunning considerations, but from a feeling that lay in the soul of the commander in chief, as well as in the soul of every Russian person.
And having learned that tomorrow we will attack the enemy, having heard confirmation from the highest spheres of the army of what they wanted to believe, the exhausted, hesitant people were comforted and encouraged.

The regiment of Prince Andrei was in reserves, which until the second hour stood behind Semenovsky in inactivity, under heavy artillery fire. In the second hour, the regiment, which had already lost more than two hundred men, was moved forward into a worn-out oat field, to that gap between Semenovsky and the kurgan battery, where thousands of people were beaten that day and on which, in the second hour of the day, intensely concentrated fire was directed from several hundred enemy guns.
Without leaving this place and without releasing a single charge, the regiment lost another third of its people here. Front and especially with right side, in the smoke that did not dissipate, cannons boomed and from the mysterious area of ​​​​smoke that covered the entire area in front, without ceasing, with a hissing quick whistle, shot out cannonballs and slowly whistling grenades. Sometimes, as if giving rest, a quarter of an hour passed, during which all the cannonballs and grenades flew over, but sometimes for a minute several people were pulled out of the regiment, and the dead were constantly dragged away and the wounded carried away.
With each new blow, fewer and fewer accidents of life remained for those who had not yet been killed. The regiment stood in battalion columns at a distance of three hundred paces, but, despite the fact, all the people of the regiment were under the influence of the same mood. All the people of the regiment were equally silent and gloomy. Rarely was a conversation heard between the rows, but this conversation fell silent every time a blow was heard and a cry: “Stretcher!” Most of the time, the people of the regiment, by order of the authorities, sat on the ground. Who, having removed the shako, diligently disbanded and again gathered the assemblies; some with dry clay, spreading it in their palms, polished the bayonet; who kneaded the belt and tightened the buckle of the sling; who diligently straightened and bent over the new hems and changed shoes. Some built houses from Kalmyk arable land or wove braids from stubble straw. Everyone seemed quite immersed in these activities. When people were wounded and killed, when stretchers were dragged, when our people were returning back, when large masses of enemies were visible through the smoke, no one paid any attention to these circumstances. When artillery and cavalry rode forward, the movements of our infantry were visible, approving remarks were heard from all sides. But the events that were completely extraneous, which had nothing to do with the battle, deserved the greatest attention. As if the attention of these morally tormented people rested on these ordinary, everyday events. The artillery battery passed in front of the front of the regiment. In one of the artillery boxes, the tie-down line intervened. “Hey, that tie-down! .. Straighten it! It will fall ... Oh, they don’t see it! .. - they shouted from the ranks in the same way throughout the regiment. On another occasion, a small brown dog with a firmly raised tail drew general attention, which, God knows where it came from, ran in an anxious trot in front of the ranks and suddenly squealed from a close-hitting shot and, tail between its legs, rushed to the side. There were chuckles and squeals all over the regiment. But entertainment of this kind lasted for minutes, and for more than eight hours people had been standing without food and doing nothing under the unceasing horror of death, and pale and frowning faces grew paler and more frowning.
Prince Andrei, just like all the people of the regiment, frowning and pale, walked up and down the meadow near the oat field from one boundary to the other, with his hands clasped back and his head bowed. There was nothing for him to do or order. Everything was done by itself. The dead were dragged behind the front, the wounded were carried away, the ranks closed. If the soldiers ran away, they immediately hurriedly returned. At first, Prince Andrei, considering it his duty to arouse the courage of the soldiers and set an example for them, walked along the rows; but then he became convinced that he had nothing and nothing to teach them. All the strength of his soul, just like that of every soldier, was unconsciously aimed at refraining from contemplating the horror of the situation in which they were. He walked in the meadow, dragging his feet, scratching the grass and watching the dust that covered his boots; either he walked with long strides, trying to get into the tracks left by the mowers in the meadow, then, counting his steps, he made calculations how many times he had to go from boundary to boundary in order to make a verst, then he scoured the wormwood flowers growing on the boundary, and He rubbed these flowers in his palms and sniffed the fragrant, bitter, strong smell. From all yesterday's work, there was nothing left of thought. He didn't think about anything. He listened with a tired ear to the same sounds, distinguishing the whistle of flights from the rumble of shots, looked at the closer faces of the people of the 1st battalion and waited. “Here it is… this one is here again! he thought, listening to the approaching whistle of something from a closed area of ​​smoke. - One, the other! Yet! Horrible ... He stopped and looked at the ranks. “No, it moved. And here it is.” And he again began to walk, trying to take long steps so that in sixteen steps he would reach the boundary.
Whistle and blow! In five steps from him, the dry earth blew up and the core disappeared. An involuntary cold ran down his back. He looked again at the ranks. Probably vomited many; a large crowd gathered at the 2nd battalion.
“Mr. adjutant,” he shouted, “tell them not to crowd. - The adjutant, having fulfilled the order, approached Prince Andrei. On the other side, the battalion commander rode up on horseback.
- Watch out! - a frightened cry of a soldier was heard, and, like a bird whistling on a fast flight, crouching to the ground, a grenade splashed softly, a few steps from Prince Andrei, near the horse of the battalion commander. The first horse, without asking whether it was good or bad to express fear, snorted, soared, almost dropping the major, and galloped off to the side. The horror of the horse was communicated to people.
- Lie down! - shouted the voice of the adjutant, lying on the ground. Prince Andrew stood in indecision. A grenade, like a top, smoking, spun between him and the recumbent adjutant, on the edge of arable land and meadows, near a sagebrush bush.
“Is this death? - thought Prince Andrei, looking with a completely new, envious look at the grass, at the wormwood and at the wisp of smoke curling from the spinning black ball. “I can’t, I don’t want to die, I love life, I love this grass, earth, air ...” He thought this and at the same time remembered that they were looking at him.

The myth of the centaur belongs to the category of the oldest and is one of the most enduring images in world history - a rider on horseback.

The centaur inseparably follows the hero in, is found among the legends of Mycenae and the Scythians.

The idea of ​​​​a creature half consisting of a horse and a man can also be attributed to, thus it becomes the most stable and long-lived among the entire "pantheon" of legends and legends.

First mentions

Statuette "Centaur and Man". Bronze. 8th century BC.

This assumption is based on a find in the form of two bronze figurines, presumably of the Mycenae culture, found during excavations.

However, with the same success, myths about the centaur, in a slightly different role, can be found earlier, since, as already mentioned, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bmerging two living beings into one is not new.

However, even this hypothesis shows how tenacious such a myth is.

Some historians believe that dashing Scythian riders formed the basis of the centaur myth.

dashing riders

Being, in fact, one of the first nomadic peoples who use horses not only in everyday life, but also in war, they terrified the conventionally civilized West, but still far from the "domestication" of animals.

Also here can be attributed the legends about the cruel Taurians and Kassites, who also revered the idea of ​​combat on horseback.

Legends over time acquired additional details, riders received new opportunities, and their connection with horses, according to witnesses and eyewitnesses, turned into a semblance of a physiological one.

So, for example, in the era of the invasion of the Huns, the Romans believed that this nomadic people grows with their horses, and the warriors conceive descendants with mares.

In any case, the myths about the centaur appeared precisely as an attempt to explain not just traction, but the ability of individual peoples to handle and tame horses.

Traditional explanation of origin

The classic myth of the centaurs suggests that this nomadic people appeared as the descendants of Ixion and Nephele.

Ixion, being the king of Larissa, was invited to a feast on the top of Olympus, but there he dared to pester Hera.

According to one version, the goddess herself created her image from the clouds, called Nephele.

According to another, Zeus did it.

In any case, Ixion seduced Nephele, after which the centaurs descended from their union.

Despite the fact that everything did not end too well for the lovers, Zeus kept the offspring, after which the centaurs settled the forests of Greece.

In the myths of Hellas

The Hellenes considered the centaurs to be savages, a nomadic people, incapable of agriculture, science, including philosophy.

However, among this tribe there are those who deserve a special position, namely Chiron and Phol.

The first centaur is a wise old man, he is often depicted with human front legs and ears, hallmark high position.

He taught Jason and Achilles, even Hercules, until he fell at his hand when the hero fell into madness.

Another centaur, marked in a special way in mythology Ancient Greece- this is Foul, a friend of Hercules, who died by accident from the poisoned arrow of the hero.

Both of these heroes refute the traditional idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcentaurs in myths.

They are restrained and wise, the classic centaur, on the contrary, is wild, personifying violent streams and mountain rivers.

Quite often, centaurs in legends accompany Dionysus, the Greek god of winemaking, thus perhaps emphasizing their windy and idle lifestyle.

Physiology

The classic centaur looks like the torso of a horse with a human torso and head. He is smart, yet quick and agile.

Centaurs huddle in herds, but centaurids, females of this tribe, are practically not represented in painting and literature.

Older and wiser centaurs look like this: a human torso with normal ears and front legs, the continuation of the horse's torso.

It is known for certain that centaurs give birth naturally, but how the foal is fed, breast or udder, as well as how it looks, is unknown.

Habitat

Centaurs are not accustomed to agriculture, so steppes and forests are closer to them.

Often they appear as a traditional people of the Greek foothills and mountains. There they are engaged in grazing and hunting.

The centaurs do not have crafts, as well as their own culture, it follows from the myths that they are an intermediate link between the man himself and the beast, that is, the horse.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between large cattle, including bulls, and centaurs is described even in the name of this species.

So, according to one version, from the Latin centaur (centauros) literally means "bull hunter."

This also speaks in favor of the theory that centaurs are the personification of horsemen, since nomadic peoples were mainly engaged in grazing horses and cows.

Temper and behavior of centaurs

Hercules and the Centaur Ness

Often the centaur is associated with the wild unbridled power of a mountain river.

This comparison most accurately embodies the essence of the nomadic people.

Centaurs are quick-tempered, aggressive and cruel.

Hercules had to kill most of this tribe, because the assertiveness of the centaurs did not allow them to retreat.

Approximately the same features the centaur represents in heraldry.

However, there he also has a bright anti-Christian connotation, showing laziness, idleness and frivolity.

Place in Russian folklore

In Russian legends, the image of a centaur is personified by a centaur, a creature that later became a kind of incarnation of Asmodeus.

He acts as the opponents of King Solomon and also falls from his hand during the confrontation for the wife of the owner, seduced by a savage.

Centauros is also depicted with a weapon in his hand, showing aggression and a vicious disposition.

The image of the centaur itself remains in demand both in literature and other genres of art.

Although the original association with the savages has waned, the original tradition of this people has remained unchanged.

Since Greek antiquity, centaurs - mythical creatures with the body of a horse and the torso and head of a man - have been a symbol of duality. They represent the personification of the lower nature of man, his animal nature, connected with high nature, human dignity and the ability to judge. It is a combination of the blind power of the instincts and the guiding spirit. The horse personifies the male solar force and is a footstool for raising the spirit of man.

IN Greek mythology wild creatures, half-humans, half-horses, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, accompany Dionysus (Bacchus) and are distinguished by their violent temper and intemperance. Perhaps the centaurs were originally the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. According to legend, they were born from Ixion and a cloud that, at the behest of Zeus, took the form of Hera. Centaurs fight with their neighbors Lapiths (Centauromachia), trying to steal wives from this tribe for themselves. After the victory of Hercules over the centaurs, they were ousted from Thessaly and settled throughout Greece. Poseidon took part of the centaurs under his protection. In heroic myths, some of the centaurs are the educators of heroes, others are hostile to the world of heroes.

A special place among the centaurs is occupied by Chiron, the son of Kronos and the oceanids Filira, and Phol, the son of Selene and the nymph Melia. They embody wisdom and benevolence. Chiron is the teacher of heroes (Theseus, Jason, Achilles, Dioscuri). He belongs to the genus of titans overthrown by Zeus, unbridled natural deities who know ancient wisdom. Chiron knows the secrets of healing and teaches Asclepius. His name - Chiron - indicates skillful hands. He is one of those archaic deities who entered into an alliance with the heroic world, but at the same time were forced to die involuntarily at the hands of the heroes.

Centaurs are mortal, only Chiron is immortal, but he, suffering from a wound inadvertently inflicted on him by Hercules, longs to die. Prometheus later agreed to become immortal in his place, and Zeus approved this exchange and transferred Chiron to the sky as the constellation Sagittarius (Centaur).

IN Christianity the centaur symbolizes sensuality, unbridled passions, excesses, adultery, the incarnation of the devil. In addition, this character served as the personification of a person torn between good and evil, a heretic who, although he knows the doctrine, applies it incorrectly. In medieval symbolism, the centaur, since he did not overcome his animal nature, is considered the opposite of a noble knight, and often the personification of arrogance.

In the visual arts, centauromachia scenes were popular. The image of Chiron occupies a special place both in ancient art and in the art of subsequent eras. In the Middle Ages, images of centaurs appear in the miniatures of Arabic and European cosmological treatises among the signs of the Zodiac.

Flight of the Centaurs

Breaking from distant mountains like a roaring avalanche,
They flee in the delirium of struggle, in the madness of rebellion.
Horrors sweep over them, circling,
Death is whipping with whips, they can smell the smell of a lion ...

Through the groves, through the ditches, bypassing the mountain slope,
Frightening hydras and snakes ... And now, in the distance, a mirage
They rise in the darkness like a giant mountain range
And Ossa, and Olympus, and black Pelion...

Sometimes one of them will delay his sonorous run,
Suddenly it stops and catches a subtle smell,
And again rushes after the native herd.

Away, along the riverbeds, where all the moisture has dried up,
Where the brilliant moon cast shadows -
The shadow of Hercules rushes with giant horror...

Jose Maria de Heredia

Letter

How bitter is the taste of earthly laurel...
Rodin chained forever
In the semi-mad gesture of the Centaur
Incompatibility of two principles.
Wringing your hands in madness,
He beats in hopeless torment,
The earth groans and hums
Under a heavy spasm of hooves.
But I understand the infinity
I know only wholeness in the world,
In me, the mirror of quiet waters,
My soul is like a starry sky
All around the native abyss sings, -
I'm all neighing and flying!

There are many variations of it appearance. The centaur could also be winged. In all these cases, he remained a man-horse.
The image of the centaur, apparently, arose in Babylon in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Kassite nomads who came to Mesopotamia from Iran around 1750 BC. e., waged a fierce struggle with Egypt and Assyria for dominion in the Middle East. Along the borders of their empire, the Kassites erected huge stone statues of guardian gods, among them centaurs. One of them depicted a winged creature with a horse's body, two faces - a human, looking forward, and a dragon, looking back, and two tails (horse and scorpion); in the hands - a bow with a stretched bowstring. Another well-known monument is a sculpture of a classical centaur without wings, with one head and one tail, ready to shoot at the enemy with his bow. Of course, the fact that the Kassites depicted the centaur in their sculptures does not mean at all that they invented it, but since the Kassite empire ceased to exist by the middle of the 12th century BC. e., it can be rightly asserted that the history of the centaur has more than three thousand years.
The appearance of the image of a centaur suggests that already during the time of the Kassites, the horse played an important role in human life. The oldest mention of a horse - "donkey from the west" or "mountain donkey" - we find on a Babylonian clay tablet dating back to 2100 BC. e. Centuries passed before the horse became the companion of man in the Middle East. Perhaps the ancient farmers perceived horse riders as an integral being, but the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, prone to inventing “composite” creatures, having invented the centaur, thus reflected the spread of the horse.

Centaurs are possible mutants of the ancient world.

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

Centaurs in Greek mythology had horse ears, rough and bearded faces. As a rule, they were naked and armed with a club, a stone or a bow.
According to the poem "Pythians" by Pindar, the 5th century BC. , the centaurs were considered descendants - direct or through their common ancestor Centaur - the Thessalian king of the Lapith tribe of the titan Ixion, the son of the god Ares, and the clouds, which, by the will of the god Zeus, took the form of the goddess Hera, whom Ixion and the titanides of the Nephele clouds encroached on.
According to the Thessalian legends as presented by Lucan (1st century AD), Nephele gave birth to centaurs at the foot of Mount Olympus in the Pelephronian cave. Diodorus Siculus (I century BC) cites in the Historical Library the views that existed in his time that the centaurs were raised on the Pelion peninsula by nymphs and, having matured, entered into a relationship with the Magnessian mares, from which two-natural centaurs or hippocentaurs. According to another myth, a descendant of Apollo, the Centaur, entered into a relationship with the Magnesian mares.

Fight of a centaur with a lapith, a metope from the Parthenon stolen by the British.

Pliny (c. 23–79 AD) wrote in his Natural History that he saw a hippocentaur preserved in honey and sent from Egypt as a gift to the emperor.
“Caesar Claudius, brother of Caligula, writes that a hippocentaur was born in Thessaly and died on the same day, and during the reign of this emperor we saw a similar creature brought in honey from Egypt.”


The Odyssey tells the story of how the centaur Eurytion, invited to the wedding of the Greek Peyritoon from the Lapith tribe, got drunk with wine and tried to dishonor the bride. As punishment, they cut off his ears and nose and threw him out. The centaur called his brethren to revenge, and after some time a battle took place in which the centaurs were defeated.

The Greeks, who bred and loved horses, were well acquainted with their temper. It is no coincidence that it was the nature of the horse that they associated with the unpredictable manifestations of violence in this, by and large positive creature. The Greek centaur is practically a man, but his behavior changes dramatically under the influence of wine. Homer writes: “It is wine that is responsible for the atrocities that the famous centaur Eurytion perpetrated in the palace of the generous Peyritoon in Lapith. His mind went wild with intoxication. And in his rage he did many troubles in the house of Peyritoon. Since then, the enmity between humans and centaurs has continued. And he was the first to feel the evil of drunkenness."
The centaur was a popular subject in vase painting. Its artistic embodiment depended on which centaur was depicted on the vase. The two most "civilized" centaurs - Chiron and Folos - were usually depicted with human legs, while the entire back of their bodies remained horse-like. Chiron, almost always dressed, could have had human ears. Pholos, on the contrary, most often appears naked and always with horse ears.

Chiron is the educator of the most famous heroes of Hellas.

The centaur, as a rule, was depicted naked, with male or horse genitals at the same time and without fail with a beard. The image of a centaur, of course, was not common to all of Greece: in its continental part, centaurs were depicted with tousled long hair, and in Ionia and Italy - with short ones. These creatures did not necessarily carry a bow - more often a log or cobblestone. The depiction of the death of Caineus at the Battle of Lapith can be called a classic: the centaurs bury the dying hero under a mountain of logs and stones.

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) were killed by Hercules. Those who escaped from him listened to the sirens, stopped eating, and died of hunger. The centaur Nessus, according to Sophocles, played a fatal role in the death of Hercules. He tried to kidnap Hercules' wife Dejanira, but was struck down by an arrow with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. Dying, Ness decided to take revenge on Hercules, advising Dejanira to collect his blood, as she supposedly would help her keep Hercules' love. Dejanira soaked the clothes of Hercules with the poisonous blood of Nessus, and he died in terrible agony.

Along with male centaurs, centauris were sometimes described in Greek legends. Their image is quite rare in myths and paintings, and even then, they are more often characterized as nymphs. The few authors who mention the existence of centauris described them as being beautiful physically and spiritually. The most famous centauri was Gilonoma, the wife of the centaur Killar.
The debate about the origin of the word "centaur" has never subsided. It could come from the ancient Greek "kenteo" - "to hunt, pursue" and "tavros" - "bull".
Most likely, the meaning of the word centaur - bull driver - is a sort of cowboy of antiquity.

The fixation of the centaur as one of the zodiac symbols played a role in the fact that the memory of him was preserved in the Middle Ages. In bestiaries, the image of the onocentaur, the donkey-man, was unambiguously associated with the devil. The medieval centaur was always depicted wearing a tunic or cloak and certainly holding a combat bow in his hands. This can be seen on the coat of arms of the English king Stephen I. There are also images of a centaur with human hands, awkwardly standing on the only hind horse legs.
In Dante's "Divine Comedy" we meet Chiron, Nessos and Tholos in the seventh circle of hell, where they dump the souls of rapists into the river from the boiling blood.
In Shakespeare's centaur, the Greek image of this creature is revived - a threat to public order.
In the 19th century, the image of the centaur attracted even greater interest in literature and art. Goethe made Chiron one of the central figures in the description of Walpurgis Night in Faust.

modern fantasy

The centaur was depicted on their canvases and in the occultures of Botticelli, Pisanello, Michelangelo, Rubens, Beckling, Rodin, Picasso and many others. He is the subject of many literary works and scientific papers. In the 19th century, the centaur also did not remain forgotten.

photo joke

The centaur is an unusual, paradoxical creature, an unsolved mystery of nature. Precisely nature - now we can assert this with absolute accuracy. For a long time, scientists did not have more or less reliable evidence of the reality of the existence of the centaur. It was mistakenly believed that this is a purely mythological character, which does not exist in nature, and never existed.
Then it is strange that a fictional creature was so often mentioned in various literary sources, and depicted by sculptors and painters.

Recently, supporters of the version of the reality of the centaurs received irrefutable evidence of their correctness. Archaeological excavations near El Ayoum (Western Sahara) dispelled secrets and speculation - more than a dozen skeletons of centaurs were found there, many of which are quite well preserved. Professor of the California Institute of Natural Sciences J.R.R. Epshtein, using the method of Professor Gerasimov, restored the appearance of a centaur.

The dimensions of the centaur are by no means gigantic: at the withers - about a meter, from the front hooves to the top of the head - about eighty meters. The volume of the brain is somewhat smaller than that of humans, but larger than that of chimpanzees and gorillas. Of great interest to researchers was the question of how the internal organs in two cavities. It turned out that the entire upper-anterior (humanoid) part was filled with respiratory organs. Powerful lungs with large bronchi made the centaurs unusually hardy, in addition, obviously, the centaurs were very loud, and therefore deaf. In the lower back part, immediately behind the middle girdle of the limbs, guarded by the collarbones and shoulder blades, there was a huge heart. Behind the heart is a voluminous stomach and a long intestine, which indicates that the centaurs ate mainly grass. On the sides, near the ribs, the centaurs had air bubbles, similar topics that birds have. During inhalation, they were filled with air, so that later, during exhalation, fill the lungs with this air. Thus, centaurs were the only mammals with double breathing.
Classifying the centaur proved extremely difficult. Most likely, this is a special class of six-legged vertebrates such as dead-ended chordates. The prehistoric ancestors of the centaurs obviously lived in the forests, moved on all six limbs and were much slower. The protocentaurs (Protocentaurus vulgaris) looked different: the limbs were short and awkward, the front part did not at all resemble a human one. They lived in dens and were omnivores. However, with climate change, protocentaurs became steppe animals, which required them to move faster. At the same time, the front part of the body came off the ground and became lighter, while the back, on the contrary, became more massive, the middle and hind limbs noticeably stretched out. Further, in the process of evolution, the back of the body more and more resembled a horse, since the living conditions and lifestyle of the centaurs were exactly the same as those of wild horses. The front part, lightened and becoming vertical, freed up for useful work, the forelimbs gradually began to resemble human hands. Labor made a protocentaur - a real centaur.

Whether centaurs were sentient remains a mystery. Mythology says "Yes", but science does not have reliable data on this. Unfortunately, the riddle is unsolvable, since all centaurs have already become extinct. It can be assumed that people are to blame for this. Many literary sources- for example, the myth of Lapith - they tell about the enmity of people and centaurs. Obviously, bulky and clumsy, centaurs could not stand the competition with dexterous and mobile people. Presumably, already in the first millennium BC, centaurs were completely ousted from the territory of Ancient Greece and from Europe in general. They also left Asia and were driven into the sands of the Sahara, however, decreasing groups of centaurs could exist until the first centuries of our era.

For lovers - a ram with a human head and a giant horse.

Myths and Legends * Centaurs

Centaurs (other Greek. Κένταυροι , units Κένταυρος ) in Greek mythology - wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, accompany Dionysus and are distinguished by their violent temper and intemperance. Presumably, centaurs were originally the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. In heroic myths, some centaurs are the educators of heroes, others are hostile to them.

Origin of image and name

The word "centaur" (other Greek. κένταυρος , kentauros), or the Latinized version - "centaur" (Latin centaurus), is traditionally derived from a word formation consisting of two Greek roots: kenteo - to prick and tauros - bull, which can be interpreted both as a bull killer or bull hunter, and as a bull-driver or even a cowboy.
The image of centaurs presumably arose as a figment of the imagination of representatives of civilized peoples who did not yet know horseback riding, who first encountered horse riders of some northern nomadic tribes: Scythians, Turks, Kassites or Taurians. This explains both the ferocious disposition of the centaurs and their connection with the bulls - the basis of the economy of the nomads was cattle breeding.
According to the eugemeric interpretation of ancient times, these were the youths from the village of Tucha, who invented horseback riding and slaughtered wild bulls; or people from the city of Pelephronium, where a way was found to tame horses.
According to another approach, the image of centaurs dates back to the time of the collapse of the Greek-Aryan linguistic unity, and the word itself, like other Ind. Gandharva, was borrowed into Proto-Greek from some substrate language. If this version is accepted, speculation about horsemen becomes groundless, and the accepted etymology of this word should be recognized as a later folk rethinking. In general, even semantically, the images of centaurs and gandharvas are very similar.

myths

Centaurs were considered descendants of Ixion and Nephele - either direct, or through a common ancestor of the Centaur tribe, who foaled the Magnesian mares. Some say that the centaurs were brought up on Pelion by nymphs and, having matured, entered into a relationship with mares, from which the two-natural centaurs were born.
Some centaurs were taken out of this genealogical series, probably to ennoble them. So, Chiron was considered the son of Zeus and the mare Filira, Fol - the son of Silenus. Sometimes centaurs are considered the offspring of Poseidon, which is explained in the mythological past of this deity, totemically associated with horses and having a horse as an attributive animal.

Typically, centaurs are shown as wild and unrestrained creatures, in which animal nature predominates, but wise centaurs are also known, first of all, Phol and Chiron, friends and teachers of Hercules and some other heroes.
A popular poetic plot of antiquity was the centauromachy, the battle of the Lapiths with the centaurs, which flared up because of the unbridled temper of the latter at the wedding feast of the king of the Lapiths, Pirithous.

Centaurs lived in the mountains of Thessaly until the day when Hercules scattered them throughout Hellas. Most of them were killed by Hercules (see Foul (centaur)). Those who escaped from Hercules listened to the Sirens, stopped eating and starved to death. According to one story, Poseidon hid them in a mountain in Eleusis.
One of the centaurs, Nessus, played a fatal role in the death of Hercules. He tried to kidnap Hercules' wife Dejanira, but was struck down by an arrow with the poison of the Lernaean Hydra. Dying, Ness decided to take revenge on Hercules, advising Dejanira to collect his blood, as she supposedly would help her keep Hercules' love. Dejanira soaked the clothes of Hercules with the poisonous blood of Nessus, and he died in terrible agony.

Notable centaurs

* Chiron is the teacher of Achilles, Jason and other heroes.
* Ness - guilty of the death of Hercules,
* Anky - fought with Hercules during his campaign for the Erifman boar.
* Agria - fought with Hercules during his campaign for the Erymanthian boar.
* Orey - fought with Hercules during his campaign for the Erymanthian boar.
* Giley - fought with Hercules during his campaign for the Erymanthian boar
* Foul - accidentally scratched by the poisoned arrow of Hercules during the fifth feat of the latter and died.
* Homad - tried to dishonor the sister of Eurystheus Alcyone. Killed by Heracles.
* Pilenor - washed the wound from the arrow of Hercules in the river, which is why the river acquired a bad smell.
* Mole (Krotos) - half-brother of the Muses, lived on Helikon, became the constellation of Sagittarius.
* Eurytus (Eurition) - at the wedding of Hippodamia and Pirithous, he tried to kidnap the bride, because of which the war of the Lapiths with the centaurs began.

Centaur women

Centaurids (lat. Centaurides, colloquially, centaurs) rarely met in painting and myths, playing mainly the role of episodic characters, and often confused with nymphs. At the same time, the few authors who mention their existence described them as physically and spiritually beautiful creatures.

The most famous centaurid is Gilonoma, the wife of Killar (Zillar). She is the only woman of the centaur family who attended the wedding of Pirithous, where she lost her husband, and then committed suicide from grief.
Also in the Odyssey, Homer describes baby centaurs. The question of how the cubs of the centaurs were fed - breast or udder - is not described.

Classic Centaur Skin

Most often, the centaur is depicted as a horse, in place of the neck of which a human torso is placed, although in the Middle Ages there were incidents: on the coats of arms, centaurs were sometimes depicted without front legs, and in the illustrations they turned into horses with a human head or even into ordinary people. The centaur has horse ears, his face is rough and bearded. As a rule, the centaur is naked and armed with a log, stone or bow. In especially ancient images, the centaur is endowed with both human and horse genitalia.

In a special way, the ancient Greeks depicted the two wisest centaurs - Chiron and Fola. Usually their front legs were human, which emphasized their civilization, while the entire back of the body remained equine. Chiron was almost always dressed, often with human ears. The foul, on the other hand, is usually naked and only with horse ears.

Centauroids

There are many variations in the appearance of the centaur. For example, it can be winged. To refer to creatures that do not look like a horse, but retain the features of a centaur, the term "centauroids" is used in the scientific literature. Here are some of them:

* Onocentaur - a donkey-man, personifying a double-minded person in medieval mythology;
* Bukentavr - a man-bull;
* Kerasts - "horned centaurs" (human buffaloes), born from the seed of Zeus, who was vomited on the soil of Cyprus out of love for Aphrodite.
* Leontocentaur - lion man
* Ichthyocentaur - a creature that combines in its appearance the elements of fish, horse and man.