Centaurus (Greek mythology)
In Greek mythology, Centaurus is the father of the race of mythological beasts known as the centaurs or Ixionidae. The centaurs are half-man, half horse; having the torso of a man extending where the neck of a horse should be. They were said to be wild, savage, and lustful.
It was stated that after Ixion fell into insanity and was ostracized by his country, Zeus sympathized greatly with Ixion and brought him up to Olympus to dine with the gods. Here is where Ixion saw Hera, Zeus' wife and queen of the gods. He instantly fell in love with her beauty and began to desire her sexually. Zeus soon became aware of the situation. He was in disbelief that Ixion would betray him and his sincere kindness so he set a trap. Zeus found Ixion sleeping in a field and created a cloud figure of Hera. Zeus laid the figure, who was later named Nephele, next to Ixion. When Ixion awoke, he thought Hera was laying naked beside him and began to have sex with her. Zeus was so angry when he saw his suspicions confirmed that he drove Ixion from Mount Olympus, struck him with a thunderbolt, and then damned Ixion to be eternally bound to a flying burning wheel that would spin around the heavens nonstop (though it was later moved to Tartarus).
Nephele had a child from this union whose name came to be Centaurus. He was a deformed child who hunched over and found no peace amongst other humans. The only place where Centaurus felt like he belonged was on the mountain of Pelion. Here he roamed, lived, and mated with the Magnesian mares who resided there.
Constellation
Centaurus was the first person to group stars into constellations and taught others how to read them. One explanation of the constellation is that Centaurus put a picture of himself in the sky to guide his sailor friends the Argonauts.
The most popular meaning of the constellation is that it represents the form of Chiron. Chiron was the king of the centaurs and unlike his race he was intelligent and wise. So wise, in fact, that he tutored Heracles who became one of his great friends. The myth goes that Heracles was out on a visit to his dear friend Pholus' house. Pholus was a centaur and was having dinner with Heracles. After dinner was over Heracles decided that he was thirsty and took it upon himself to get some wine. The wine that he took, however, was the sacred wine of the centaurs. It was meant to only be drunk by the centaurs and only on special occasions. Pholus saw this and could not muster up the courage to tell his strong friend that he was not allowed to drink that wine. It was not long before the sacred scent reached the other centaurs. The infuriated centaurs grabbed weapons and charged at Pholus' house. The coward Pholus fled almost immediately and left Heracles to fend for himself. Heracles killed several of the centaurs and soon enough of them were dead that the rest became afraid and tried to flee. Upon shooting at the fleeing beasts, Heracles' poison arrow grazed the knee of Chiron. Chiron was not involved in the fight but came out to try to stop it. The immortal Chiron could not die from his wound and thus would be doomed to live in great pain forever. He cried to Zeus to give him relief and end his life. Zeus took pity on the centaur and let him die. To honor him, Zeus gave Chiron a place amongst the stars.
References
- Kronberg, C. "Centaurus." Constellations and Maps. 17 Jan 2004. Web. 15 Nov 2009. <http://maps.seds.org/Stars_en/Fig/centaurus.html>.
- Credner, Till, and Sven Kohle. "Centaurus, Circinus." The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations. Web. 15 Nov 2009. <http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/centaurus/>.
- Dolan, Chris. "Centarus." Constellations. Web. 15 Nov 2009. <http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations/Centaurus.html>.