A centaur was a creature from Greek mythology which was half-man and half-horse

Mythical Creature in Greek Mythology
~ CENTAUR 

A centaur was a creature from Greek mythology which was half-man and half-horse. The head, arms and torso were human and joined at the waist to the body and legs of a horse. These creatures represented barbarism and unbridled chaos and were frequently represented in Greek architectural sculpture and pottery decoration. However, despite their bestial and lustful reputation, some centaurs were not unfavourably portrayed in myths unless they were under the effects of wine. Perhaps then they are a cautionary metaphor for the dangers we all face if we should forget our civility and lose control of our faculties.

Origins
The father of the race of centaurs was Centaurus, himself the offspring of Ixion who had made love to Hera, or more precisely, a cloud made by a jealous Zeus to resemble Hera. The centaurs were believed to live in the forests of Thessaly, beyond the laws of man. These mythical creatures may actually have had a basis in reality as there was a tradition in Thessaly of hunting bulls on horseback and the very word centaur may have originally meant ‘bull-killer’. Perhaps the horsemen of Thessaly were so skilled that they seemed at one with their horse and so the myth of a single creature was born.

~ Ancient History Encyclopedia


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