The Centaurides ( grc, Κενταυρίδες, ''Kentaurides'') or centauresses are female

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

s. First encountered in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

as members of the tribe of the

Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...

oi, the Centaurides are only occasionally mentioned in written sources, but appear frequently in

Greek art Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. The centauress who appears most frequently in literature is

Hylonome Hylonome (; from ) was a female centaur in Greek mythology. Mythology Hylonome was present at the battle against the Lapiths, where she lost her husband, the centaur Cyllarus, whom she loved very much. Heartbroken, she then took her own life ...

, wife of the centaur

Cyllarus Cyllarus (Ancient Greek: Κύλλαρος) was a centaur in Greek mythology. Mythology The below is mentioned in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', He was handsome and valiant, and dearly loved his centaur wife Hylonome. He participated in the batt ...

Names

As a proper noun, ''Centauride'' or ''Kentauride'' refers specifically to a female of the tribe of the Centauroi or Kentauroi (Κένταυροι), commonly rendered in English as the common noun "centaurs"; as a common noun, ''centauride'' refers to any female centaur. ''Centauress'' is the more usual term in English, but ''centaurelle'' and ''centaurette'' may also occur.

Literary depictions

In the ''" Imagines"'', the

rhetorician Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

Philostratus the Elder Philostratus of Lemnos ( grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ὁ Λήμνιος; c. 190 – c. 230 AD), also known as Philostratus the Elder to distinguish him from Philostratus the Younger who was also from Lemnos, was a Greek sophist of the Roman Emp ...

gives a brief description of the Centaurides: In the ''"

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

"'',

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

gives a brief description of Hylonome:

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

refers to centauresses in ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'', Act IV, Scene VI, lines 124–125: "Down from the waist they're centaurs, Though women all above".

Other appearances

A British family named Lambert used a female centaur holding a rose in her left hand as a

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

device, and depicted this figure in their monuments. However, they were unable to establish official authority for these arms, and in the eighteenth century changed them to a male centaur holding a bow.

Arthur Fox-Davies Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (28 February 1871 – 19 May 1928) was a British expert on heraldry. His ''Complete Guide to Heraldry'', published in 1909, has become a standard work on heraldry in England. A barrister by profession, Fox-Davies worke ...

, ''A Complete Guide to Heraldry'', T.C. and E.C. Jack, London, 1909, p 229, https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxduoft. In Walt Disney's film ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'', Beethoven's

Pastoral Symphony The Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the ''Pastoral Symphony'' (German: ''Pastorale''), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and completed in 1808. One of Beethoven's few works containing explicitly programmatic cont ...

is illustrated with scenes from Greek mythology, in which male and female centaurs, referred to by the studio as "centaurettes", feature prominently. The centaurettes appear in various situations, some of which depict them affecting the mannerisms of fashionable women in 1940. The centaurettes are shown in a variety of colours other than human skin tones, including blue, and were originally drawn bare-breasted, but applying the

Hays code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

, the

Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

forced the animators to cover their breasts with garlands. Changing attitudes toward racial stereotypes in the 1960s led to the cutting of scenes depicting black centaurettes waiting on the others. The song ''Witch Of The Westmoreland'', originally sung by

Barbara Dickson Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and 'January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a n ...

on the folk album ''From The Beggar's Mantle'', features a benevolent witch, described in the song as " e half the form of a maiden fair/And a jet-black mare's body." Since the late 2000s, as a part of the

monster girl A monster girl is a fictional Trope (literature), trope of a woman who is or shares visual traits with a monster. The trope is historically used strictly negatively and antagonistically as a representation of an ugly, cruel, or deceitful woman; su ...

trend in Japan, female centaurs have appeared in several Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

such as ''

Monster Musume is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Okayado. The series is published in Japan by Tokuma Shoten in their ''Monthly Comic Ryū'' magazine and by Seven Seas Entertainment in the United States, with the chapters collected and ...

'' and ''

A Centaur's Life ''A Centaur's Life'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese slice of life comedy manga series by Kei Murayama. The series has been serialized in Tokuma Shoten's ''Monthly Comic Ryū'' magazine since February 2011, and is published in English by S ...

''.

References

External links

Theoi Project - Kentaurides
{{Greek religion Centaurs Female legendary creatures

Names

Literary depictions

Other appearances

See also

References

External links