Centaur in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Centaur

23 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of Centaur, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Half-human, half-horse, centaurs roamed Greek myth; Rome called them Centaurus. Explore Chiron's wisdom and the death that freed Prometheus. For the story in one place, read our article on Centaur.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)The shield's decoration continues with Pursuit, Flight, Tumult and Panic, deadly Fate dragging a dead man, twelve snake heads, and boars and lions glaring at one another. Other scenes show the Lapiths fighting the Centaurs, Ares in his golden chariot with Athena, the gods on Olympus where Apollo plays the lyre and the Muses sing, and a harbour with dolphins and a fisherman. Perseus, wearing the cap of Hades and carrying the Gorgon's head, flies above the shield while the Gorgons pursue him, and beyond him men fight for and against a town.

Pindar (1)

Pindar, Pythian Odes 2.1–96Pythian 2: for Hieron — IxionPindar praises Syracuse and Hieron, victor in the chariot race, and recalls that Cinyras of Cyprus is honoured in song. He tells how Ixion, whom the gods had welcomed, tried to seduce Hera and was bound to a wheel; Zeus made a cloud in her likeness, and from it the Centaurs were born. The poet then warns against slanderers and flatterers, says that one must not fight against god, and prays to please the noble.

Euripides (4)

Euripides, Heracles 348–441First choral song: the labours of HeraclesThe Chorus says that Phoebus sings a dirge for the dead Linus, but that it will sing the praise of Heracles, who went down to the house of the dead and brought an end to the labours that fell to him. It recalls how he killed the lion, the Centaurs, the golden-horned deer, Cycnus, the dragon of the apple-tree, the water-snake and the three-bodied monster of Erytheia, and how he fetched the girdle of the Amazons, and says that they now have no help from him, and that their own youth is gone.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1036–1097Third choral song: the wedding of Peleus and Thetis; Iphigenia's coming sacrificeThe Chorus recalls the day when the Pierian choir came over Pelion to the wedding of Peleus, with the banquet of the gods and the Centaurs on horseback. They then turn to Iphigenia and say that the Argives will crown her like a pure heifer, and stain her throat with blood.
Euripides, Heracles 170–237First episode: Amphitryon defends Heracles against LycusAmphitryon says that Zeus will defend his own share in his son, but that he will prove Lycus' ignorance. He says that Heracles is called a coward for fighting with the bow, and asks Lycus to go to Pholoe and ask the Centaurs who the bravest of men is. He argues that the man who fights in line is a slave to his weapons, while the archer harms the enemy and keeps safe himself, and he reproaches the land of Cadmus for failing to defend Heracles' children.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 677–740Second episode: Clytemnestra questions Agamemnon about the weddingAgamemnon sends Iphigenia in, and Clytemnestra asks about the bridegroom's family, and he tells her of Aegina, of Peleus and Thetis, and of the Centaur Chiron. Clytemnestra asks who will give the bride away and where she is to prepare the feast for the women. Agamemnon says that she must go back to Argos, and Clytemnestra, after protesting, refuses to obey.

Apollonius Rhodius (1)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1–121Pelias' oracle and the catalogue of the ArgonautsThe poet invokes Phoebus and tells how Pelias, warned by an oracle to beware the man with one sandal, sends Jason after the Golden Fleece when Jason loses a sandal crossing the Anaurus. The catalogue of the Argonauts begins with Orpheus and goes on through Asterion, Polyphemus, Admetus, Mopsus, Peleus and Telamon and Tiphys, who steers the ship Athena and Argus built. It closes with Phlias and the sons of Bias from Argos.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.11.1–4.13.4Heracles' labours I: the first sevenHera sends a frenzy on Heracles, and in it he shoots his children by Megara; when he recovers he goes to serve Eurystheus. The chapters give the labours of the Nemean lion, the Lernaean hydra, the Erymanthian boar (with the fight against the Centaurs at the cave of Pholus), the golden-horned hind, the Stymphalian birds, the stables of Augeas, and the Cretan bull.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.67.1–4.70.4Aeolus and Boeotus, Salmoneus and Neleus, the Lapiths and CentaursAfter the Epigoni return home, Teiresias dies at Tilphossaeum and the Cadmeans leave it, and the historian gives the story of Arne, Aeolus and Boeotus. He then follows Salmoneus, Tyro and their descendants as far as Nestor, and turns to the Lapiths and Centaurs: the sons of Peneius, Ixion's crime against Eïoneus, and the origin of the Centaurs.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.36.1–4.39.4The death of HeraclesHeracles takes the field with the Calydonians against the Thesprotians and, after he kills a serving boy by accident, goes into exile with Deïaneira. At the river Euenus the centaur Nessus attacks her; dying, he gives her a charm, and years later she uses it on a robe to win Heracles back from Iole. The robe consumes Heracles, who has himself burned on a pyre on Mount Oeta; the section closes with the honours paid to him as hero and god.

Ovid (3)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.459–533The death of CaeneusCaeneus kills five centaurs, and the others, who cannot wound him, pile tree-trunks on him until he is buried under them, and a bird with golden wings flies out. Mopsus the seer recognises the bird as Caeneus, and the Lapiths, grieving and resentful, press on against the centaurs.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.210–326The Lapiths and the Centaurs: the wedding feastNestor describes the wedding of Pirithous, king of the Lapiths, and Hippodame, to which the centaurs are invited as guests. The centaur Eurytus, drunk, seizes the bride, and the rest follow his example, and a general brawl begins. Theseus strikes Eurytus down with a bowl, and the centaurs seize tables and weapons, and the Lapiths fight them, with many dead on both sides.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.327–458The Lapiths and the Centaurs: the battleNestor goes on describing the fighting, in which the centaurs and Lapiths kill one another with uprooted trees, antlers, torches and altar-fires. Among the dead are the centaur Cyllarus and his mate Hylonome, a pair of lovers who die together.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.17.1–6Athens: altar of Mercy, gymnasium of Ptolemy and sanctuary of TheseusIn the market-place are altars of Mercy, Modesty, Rumour and Impulse, which Pausanias takes as proof of Athenian piety. Nearby are the gymnasium of Ptolemy and the sanctuary of Theseus, with paintings of the Amazon war, the Centaur battle and Minos testing Theseus with a ring. He then gives the conflicting tales of Theseus’ death: his capture in Thesprotia with Pirithous, his loss of the throne to Menestheus, and his end on Scyros, from where Cimon later brought his bones to Athens.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.10.1–10Olympia: the temple of Zeus, its sculptures and the AltisPausanias describes the Altis and the temple of Zeus, built after the Elean conquest of Pisa, with its Doric style, dimensions, the architect Libon and the marble tiles said to have been devised by Byzes of Naxos. He lists the golden shield and gilt Victory on the roof, and describes the gable sculptures by Paeonius and Alcamenes and the reliefs of the labours of Hercules over the doors.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.19.1–10Olympia: the Chest of Cypselus, fourth and fifth fieldsPausanias describes the fourth field, including Boreas and Orithyia, Hercules and Geryon, the fight of Achilles and Memnon, the Dioscuri rescuing Helen, scenes from the Trojan war, the judgment of Paris and the sons of Oedipus. He then gives his readings of the unlabelled uppermost field, such as Ulysses and Circe, and guesses that the verses are by Eumelus of Corinth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.18.1–16Sparta to Amyclae: Ammon, Cnagian Artemis and the throne of ApolloPausanias lists images and shrines near the statues of Pausanias, including Athena Ophthalmitis, the sanctuary of Ammon and Cnagian Artemis, and then follows the road to Amyclae by the river Tiasa and the sanctuary of the Graces. At Amyclae he describes the tripods and dedications and Bathycles’ throne of the Amyclaean Apollo, listing its mythological reliefs on the front and underneath.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.200–334The shield of EurypylusEurypylus puts on his armour, and on his shield are shown the labours of Hercules, from the serpents in the cradle to Cerberus and the Centaurs. He tells Paris that victory lies with the gods. The Trojans rejoice, and he chooses his captains.

Nonnus of Panopolis (3)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 17.192–314Book 17: Orontes' duel with Dionysos and his deathOrontes scatters the Satyrs and Centaurs, killing the Centaur Hylaios with a hurled boulder, until he meets Dionysos face to face. His spear cannot wound the god, but Dionysos splits his breastplate with a cluster of vine. Orontes asks Helios to carry the news to Deriades, falls on his own sword and gives his name to the river; Dionysos taunts the corpse, and the Nymphs bury it and carve an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 14.105–227Book 14: The Satyrs' leaders; the horned raceThe Satyr leaders are named as sons of Hermes and Iphthime. The poet tells how the infant Dionysos took animal shapes to hide from Hera, and how she changed his guardians into horned creatures. The Cyprian Centaurs, born from the seed of Zeus, and the Bacchants and nurses of Dionysos then arrive.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 14.0–104Book 14: Rheia arms the gods; Cabeiroi, Telchines, Cyclopes and PansRheia summons all the gods and nature spirits. The Cabeiroi, the Cretan Corybants, the Telchines of Rhodes, the Centaurs and the Cyclopes come to join Dionysos, though Polyphemos stays behind for love of Galateia. The twelve horned Pans are named, and old Seilenos arrives with his three sons.

Aratus (2)

Aratus, Phaenomena 421–570The Hydra, the celestial circles and the ZodiacAratus gives storm signs from the Centaur and the Altar, then describes the Centaur, the Beast he holds and the Hydra with the Crater and the Raven, and sets aside the five wandering planets as too hard to treat. He then describes the circles of the sky: the Milky Way, the northern and southern tropics, the equator and the oblique circle of the Zodiac. The twelve signs of the Zodiac are listed in order from the Crab, and half of the belt is always above the horizon.
Aratus, Phaenomena 571–737Risings and settings of the constellationsAratus tells which constellations set and which rise as each sign of the Zodiac rises, from the Crab to the Twins, among them Ophiuchus, Boötes, Orion, Cetus, Cepheus, Cassiepeia and Perseus. In explaining why Orion flees when the Scorpion rises, he tells how Orion offended Artemis in Chios and was killed by the Scorpion. The section ends by turning to the Moon's phases as a guide to the month.