The half-man and half horse creatures originate from the oldest Greek
mythology and likely older lost origins. Like many myths from antiquity,
multiple origins of the creature exist, obscuring the original narrative, but
scholarly speculation tends to focus on the centaur as a symbolic
liminal creature caught between states of “humanity” and “animal-like” or
“civilized” and “barbaric”
(Nash, 1984). In most literary interpretations, the centaur represents the
division of beastly or animal like tendencies vying with more refined and
logical attributes of humans. The duality of the centaur has all but lost
symbolic potency in modernity, leaving intact the cultural importance
surviving only as an idiomatic motif of modern fantasy literature.
The Centaur Symbol
The centaur’s liminal quality is perhaps one of the oldest views of the
duality of human spirit and mind.
One of the earliest stories tells of Cronus, the father of Zeus, who took
stallion form to, “keep his wife Rhea from observing his sexual assault on
Philyra,” giving birth to the centaur Chiron, or “because Philyra had
transformed herself into a mare to escape Cronus,” resulting in the birth of
the centaur. Accounts such as these producing liminal creatures are common in Greek
mythology including
Pan, who in the account by Apollodorus of Athens in “The Library, Volume
2”, recalls several accounts of Pan being Penelope’s child, fathered by all the
suitors, who Odysseus kills upon arriving home. Similar to Pan,
the Centaur’s origin is almost always attributed to some form of union
wrought in emotional appetite
or indiscretion that supplants reason.
In another account, translated by John Tzetzes, in the the centaur is born of the indiscretion of Ixion Pleugos who tried to force
himself upon Hera and was tricked by Zeus into revealing the truth and
punished,
And Zeus, wishing to know the truth,
Made a cloud into an image of
Hera and led it to Ixion.
He lay with the cloud resembling Hera,
And fathered a child named Centaurus, a disfigured man who,
Mixing with horses in Pelian places,
Brought forth the
part-horse Centaurs.
These early narratives of the Centaur’s origin trace the centaur’s symbol as
human duality between appetite and reason, which over time has continued to
fade in potency as more realistic symbols have replaced the myth.
The Death of the Centaur
The death of the Centaur’s symbolism has occurred over thousands of years as
less reductive views of human nature flourished. Throughout history the
Centaur has been a cultural inspiration as the symbolism of human duality of
nature remained relatively static. The earliest of accounts of Chiron best
represent the longevity of the centaur in cultural meaning.
Many descriptions of the centaur describe a creature given to violence and
appetites: war, stealing nymphs. Chiron, in early and late antiquity, is
reflected as the wise centaur who rose above his beastly nature giving himself
to rational thought. He is the educator of many Greek heroes of the Epic Cycle
known for teaching Achilles the lyre. Chiron is the ideal state of man in some
sense because he represents the person who has overcome his appetites. This
view appears in throughout Greek and Roman art both early and late antiquity.

(Chiron teaching Achilles how to play the lyre, a Roman fresco from
Herculaneum, 1st century AD., n.d.).
Public Domain
The Greek and Roman art mostly depicts the Centaur as either the wise Chiron
or as a beast given to impulse (Nash, 1984). This view of the Centaur is
consistent until early Medieval art begins depicting the Centaur as symbol of
evil. Given the nature and mythical symbolism of the Centaur, this
interpretation is consistent with the rise of Christianity.
In the story, “Life of St Anthony the Great” by Athanasius of Alexandria
the saint is challenged by a centaur who admits the death of the old gods
when faced with the faith of Anthony. Christianity’s influence changed the perception of the centaur from a theme
of striving to overcome nature to a more externalized view of the centaur as a
force of sin overcome through faith. This view remains in art but with the
rise of education and industry it is likely that the original view of the
centaur repopulated culture as the creature is reprised in art and fantasy
novels clearly seen beyond 1800 (Nash, 1984). Some of the more famous centaur
illustrations in literature are featured in books such as the Chronicles of
Narnia and The Harry Potter Series which both depict the creatures similarly
to the original Greek symbolism as civilized creatures but with a propensity
to emotionalism. However, modern cultural references are mostly confined to
science fiction and fantasy as the influence of Christianity likely made the
creature less palatable as an offspring of indulgence or sin. Equally
impactful in the decline of the Centaur in popular culture is the movement
away from reductivism.
With the advent of modern psychology and advancement of critical theory, views
of human nature became more complex. Freud provided more robust views of human
nature, theorizing the relation of conscious and subconscious rather than a
choice between rationality and emotion. More to the point, Freud alters the
paradigm of myth from one of relating a morale or ethic to a vision of human
nature: an unconscious pool of desire and taboos that cannot be voiced in
society. In this Freudian view, the Centaur is not an emotional vice to be
overcome but instead an intrinsic part of human nature to be understood, thus
opening the door to scientific analysis of human nature but also a different
interpretation of myth. Referring to the aforementioned discussion of Pan,
the emerging field of psychology becomes a new literary critique lens,
Freud and other psychologists would focus especially on the dreams of
Penelope, particularly the dream in which the goddess Athena suggests the
contest of the bow. Such a dream can be interpreted as Penelope’s subliminal
yearnings to control her own destiny by establishing the terms of her
remarriage. At the same time, the dream expresses her subconscious refusal
to accept such remarriage, except to her long-absent husband Odysseus. The
arrow which Odysseus shoots from the bow in this contest means death for the
suitors but sexual and personal gratification for Penelope. Elements of
religion and cult in the myth of Penelope are less evident.
This shift in critical interpretation of myth fuels the decline in the
centaur’s prevalence in culture as more psychological and feminist views
arose,
While there is certainly no evidence that this tale derives from some
long-forgotten ritual, the close parallels between Penelope and Athena in
the myth of Odysseus are striking. Both goddess and wife use their cunning
to advance the interests of Odysseus. Penelope is Odysseus’ human ally, much
as Athena is his divine sponsor. The identification of Penelope with
divinity is made more explicit in a post-Homeric tradition that Penelope was
not faithful to Odysseus in his absence but slept with all 129 of her
suitors and gave birth to the god Pan.
As seen in both examples of Freudian interpretations of the story of Penelope
and Pan, the Centaur’s relevance become even more obscured. With the
development of
trait theory, and the measuring human cognition and attitudes, this complexity of nature
becomes further removed from the symbolism of the centaur in the measure of
behavior and attitudes via distinctive traits. In modern theory, the centaur’s
symbolic struggle of self becomes antiquated giving rise to far more robust
characters in literature and descriptions of internal struggle. Essentially,
the centaur no longer represents the inner conflict of humanity being dated.
Perhaps adding to this complexity is the unbelievability of the centaur.
Whereas other creatures have remained popular in culture such as Bigfoot or
witches, the centaur has no evidence and no credibility in a scientific sense.
The concept of any creature through cross-species breeding is known to be
impossible by normal means, doubtful by extraordinary means such as lab grown
centaur, and this is perhaps why the centaur is relegated to plot-driven
science fiction and fantasy rather than literary fiction as science and
knowledge continue pushing the centaur further human nature's symbolism.
From Symbolic to Idiomatic Motif
Modern versions of the centaur are in most instances idiomatic motifs of
fantasy that sometimes express their old symbolism. In the
The Gaea Trilogy
by John Varley there are centaurs aliens who are hermaphrodites that share the
skill of music with the original Chiron. The book The
Neverending Story
by Michael Ende there is a doctor centaur, Cairon, whose name and profession
alluded to the myth of Chiron. There are many examples of the appearance of
the centaur in pop culture but this appearance is less impactful as the most
characters are a form of window dressing or idiomatic motif in the case of
fantasy literature. Having a centaur in a modern fantasy novel is as
ubiquitous as a dwarf or elf. While traits may change or some skill or
attribute the creature is relatively the same,
shifting from one book to the next, representing the fantasy rather than a
theme.
This same slow death of symbolism can be seen in the
Xena: Warrior Princess, television series, which depicts centaurs which are allies but could just
as easily be some other mythological character. Similarly, In
Futurama: Bender’s Game, Leela is depicted as a centaur but not as symbolic of human nature but as a
satirical element in comedy. Perhaps the clearest example of the death of the
centaur reveals in the art of Bill Willers,
a professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who created
skeletal remains of a centaur
made of human bones and a Shetland pony. The exhibit’s intention was to
encourage critical thinking skills in people.
Perhaps Willers made something more meaningful than intended as this artwork
clearly distinguishes the real from unreal by using the mythical centaur. This
shift away from meaning in the centaur reflects the lack of importance given
to the creature’s symbolism. Despite this loss of meaning, understanding the
centaur’s symbolism in literature and art still provides insight in literary
criticism as it draws a line between modern and antiquated views of human
nature.
Chiron teaching Achilles how to play the lyre, a Roman fresco from
Herculaneum, 1st century AD. (n.d.). Wikimedia Commons
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