In Greek mythology, centaurs were dreadful creatures that were half horse, half man. It was believed that they were descended from Ixion, king of Thessaly, who once tried to seduce Hera, wife of Zeus, king of the gods. Zeus came to know of Ixion’s intentions, and shaped a cloud to resemble Hera. Ixion was unaware of the deception, and from his seduction of this false Hera, afterwards called Nephele, was born their son Centaurus who, when he grew up, is said to have fathered the centaurs on the mares of Magnesia (a region of Thessaly).

The centaurs lived in the mountains and forests and ate raw flesh. They were rough and uncivilised and liked to abduct young girls. Once, they were invited to the wedding of Peirithous, a friend of the hero Theseus, and to whom they were closely related as he was also a son of Ixion. At the wedding feast, the centaurs soon became drunk and one of them tried to seduce the bride, Hippodameia. This led to a great fight, and finally Theseus and Peirithous forced the centaurs to leave Thessaly.

However, there were two centaurs who had different genealogies and who were not as awful. The first was the wise and learned Cheiron and the second was Pholus.

Cheiron was descended from the Titan Cronus and the ocean nymph, Philyra. He was friendly to humans and the protector of Peleus, the father of the hero Achilles (see Iliad). Cheiron brought up Achilles, Jason and Asclepius, and taught them music and medicine. Cheiron was immortal; but he was accidentally wounded by one of Heracles’ arrows which were soaked in the poisonous blood of the Hydra (a serpentine monster killed by Heracles). He was in such pain from the poison that he gave up his immortality, choosing to die instead.

Pholus was the son of Silenus, companion to Dionysus the god of wine, and an ash-nymph. He lived in a cave on Mount Pelion and was a friend of Heracles. Unlike Cheiron, Pholus was not immortal. Hearing of Cheiron’s death from Heracles’ arrow, and wondering how an arrow could have killed a creature as strong and magnificent as a centaur, he accidentally wounded himself with one of the arrows and died.

Centaurs were usually represented as having the head, arms and torso of a man, joined at the waist to the body and legs of a horse. Cheiron and Pholus, to distinguish them from all other centaurs, were often depicted as fully human, but with the body and hind legs of a horse attached to their buttocks.

Centaurs continue to hold the imagination of modern writers of fantasy and fiction. Two well-known centaurs in children’s fantasy are Glenstorm in Prince Caspian, the fourth book in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, and Foaly, in the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer; both centaurs are clever and helpful. Centaurs also appear in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter books as well as in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series.