A centaur is a mythological creature.
The Greek word kentauros came to Latin as centaurus , which later derived in our language into the term centaur . It is a being from mythology whose figure is half horse and half man .
Centaurs have the legs and body of an equine, while the torso, arms and heads correspond to a person. According to mythological stories, they were in the region of Thessaly and had a strong confrontation with the Lápitas , with whom they shared their origin.
The war between the centaurs and the lapiths
The conflict broke out when Pirithous (the son of the king of the Lapiths, Ixion ) was to marry Hippodamia . At the party the centaurs got drunk and kidnapped the bride and other women . Faced with this situation, the Lápitas joined Theseus and more heroes, fought against the centaurs and defeated them.
The war between the centaurs and the lapiths is often pointed out as a symbol of the conflict between barbarism and civilization. The centaurs, in fact, are shown as wild creatures. In many legends they are described as beings of little perseverance and lack of determination, who often look to the sky to seek new directions. There are some exceptions, such as Chiron and Pholus , two intelligent and mild-mannered centaurs.
A centaur is an armored fighting vehicle.
Representation in sculptures
Another of the centaurs that has a well-defined identity , with its own name and a way of being that separates it from the rest, is Nessus , who in an episode of mythology kidnapped Hercules ' fiancee, Deyanira . The sculptor Juan de Bolonia , who lived between 1529 and 1608 , created a sculpture that reflects the moment in which these two characters confronted each other violently.
Today, the work Hercules and the Centaur Nessus can be seen in the Piazza della Signoria , in the heart of the Italian city of Florence . It is worth mentioning that John of Bologna conceived several sculptures based on this particular page of Greek mythology, some of which show Nessus at the time of the kidnapping , a theme that some of his followers, such as Pietro Tacca and Adriaen de Vries , dealt with. on more than one occasion.
Changes in the image of the centaurs
In the ancient ceramic vessels with painted motifs made in the peripheral region of Greece called Attica , divided into thirteen zones, you can see centaurs that from the front had an absolutely human appearance, with legs, while on the back side there was a torso. , the horse's haunches and legs that characterize them so much.
Some time later, the image of the centaur began to adopt the characteristics that we give it today, that is, the shape of a human being up to the waist, and a horse in the rest of the body . Its appearance not only caught the attention of ancient plastic artists, but has also given rise to countless more recent creations, both in the field of sculpture , as well as in that of painting, comics, cartoons, animated films and video games, where they do not always strictly maintain their original features but at least respect the peculiar fusion between human and equine beings.
Other uses of the term
In the field of astronomy , centaurs are called minor bodies found in the solar system and that act as comets and asteroids. Its orbit is between Neptune and Jupiter .
Furthermore, Centaurus (or Centaurus ) is a constellation of the Milky Way . Its brightest star is Alpha Centauri , located 4.4 light years from our planet.
Centauro , finally, is the name of a combat vehicle originating in Italy , which stands out for its steel armor.