Centaurs - A Creature With The Upper Body Of A Human And The Lower Body Of A Horse | Half-Horse Men of Greek

You may have often seen these creatures in medieval and fantasy movies, whose upper body was of a human and the lower body of a horse. They were called Centaurs and female centaurs were called Centaurides. We find the story of their origin in Greek mythology. Just as in India gods and goddesses are worshiped and humans had direct contact with them in Satyuga, in the same way, in Greek mythology, there is a description of many gods and goddesses whose main character is Zeus. 

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In ancient Greece, there was a king named Ixion, who was well-liked by everyone. Once Zeus invited Ixion to a feast, Ixion arrived there and had a meal with Zeus and drank a lot of nectar (In Greek mythology, the drink of the gods). After getting drunk, lust arose in Ixion's mind for the goddess Hera (Zeus's wife), but Zeus read his mind and created a girl from a cloud into the likeness of Hera, which became known as Nephele (from nephos "cloud"). Zeus wanted to see what Ixion would do next. Ixion seduced Nephele and made sexual relations with her. 

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After which Zeus imprisoned Ixion in the underworld as a punishment, but that cloud (Nephele) had become pregnant by then. And from that relationship, the world's first hybrid, that is, "centaur" was born. Centaurs spread to the mountainous regions of Thessaly and Arcadia during that time and their population increased significantly. They mostly lived in groups and were quite aggressive. Along with anger, they also possessed a lot of lust. But not all centaurs were born because of Ixion, so some centaurs are also considered heroes in Greek mythology.

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The name of Cronos is also very famous in Greek mythology, who was a semi-divine being. Cronus once saw a water nymph named "Philyra" in the forest and was completely fascinated by her beauty, which led him to have sexual relations with her. Once during mating, Cronos took the form of a horse, resulting in Chiron being born. Chiron was left alone by Philyra because of the shame but he was later found by his foster father Apollo. Apollo raised and educated Chiron. Unlike other Centaurs, Chiron was intelligent, skilled in music, a master in archery, and an expert in gymnastics. In addition, Chiron also had complete knowledge of Ayurvedic medicines. Chiron became the leader of the Centaurs and helped the other Centaurs to rise above their individuality to become divine beings. This is the reason why Chiron is considered the hero in Greek Mythology.

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The mention of Centaurs is also found in India. In the Mahabharata period, in a mountain range of the Himalayas, there lived a tribe named Kinnaras, who were half human and half horse. Furthermore, such evidence has been found in the artifacts in Kalibangan that are proof of the existence of centaurs in India. Like 2600-1900 BC old cylinder seal was discovered at the site of the Indus-Valley civilization, depicting a battle between men in the presence of centaur-like creatures.