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According to the Roman poet Ovid (Fasti v.379), the constellation honors the centaur Chiron, who was tutor to many of the earlier Greek heroes including Heracles([[Hercules]]), Theseus, and Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. However, most authorities consider Sagittarius to be the civilized Chiron, while Centaurus represents a more uncouth member of the species.[11][12] The legend associated with Chiron says that he was accidentally poisoned with an arrow shot by Hercules, and was subsequently placed in the heavens.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus Centaurus]]</ref> | According to the Roman poet Ovid (Fasti v.379), the constellation honors the centaur Chiron, who was tutor to many of the earlier Greek heroes including Heracles([[Hercules]]), Theseus, and Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. However, most authorities consider Sagittarius to be the civilized Chiron, while Centaurus represents a more uncouth member of the species.[11][12] The legend associated with Chiron says that he was accidentally poisoned with an arrow shot by Hercules, and was subsequently placed in the heavens.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus Centaurus]]</ref> | ||
==Legend and Myhtology== | |||
Centaurus represents the Centaurs who were a tribe of half-man, half-horse savages, living on the mountains of Thessaly. They were people who tamed horses and are depicted as having the torso of a human joined at the (human) waist to the horse's withers where the horse's neck would be. In earlier times a man on horseback was an uncommon sight, resembling at a distance a figure half man, half horse. "This half-human and half-animal composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures, embodied in contrasted myths, and as the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths, or conversely as teachers, like Chiron" How Centaurs came to be: | |||
"Ixion fell in love with Hera and tried to rape her, but she reported his behavior to Zeus, who decided to test his wife's testimony. For this purpose, the god made a Cloud Resembling Hera (this cloud was named Nephele1), and laid it beside Ixion [Ixion on his wheel is identified withCorona Australis]. So when Ixion went around boasting that he had enjoyed Hera, Zeus bound him to a wheel, on which he is whirled by winds through the air. The cloud (Nephele) gave birth toCentaurus, and when he consorted with the Magnesian Mares, the Centaurs were born.<ref>[http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Centaurus.html Constellations of Words]</ref> | |||
==HGS Session References== | ==HGS Session References== | ||