Centaurs or Bull-slayers

In Greek mythology the Centaurs were creatures with the body of a horse and human head and bust. It is said that their name derives from the words “Ken” and “Taurus”, that is, bull-slayers.

Na mitologia grega os centauros eram seres com corpo de cavalo e busto e cabeça humana. Diz-se que formaram o seu nome das palavras ken e taurus, ou seja matador de touros.

Charles Le Brun (1619-1690)-‘Hercules slaying the Centaurs’-oil on canvas    Ottawa-National Gallery of Canada

Eugène Fromentin (1820-1876)-‘Centaurs and Centauresses exercising by shooting with the bow’    Private collection

Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée the elder (1725-1805)-‘abduction of Deianira by the Centaur Nessus’-oil on canvas-1755    [Ovid; Metamorphoses, XII, 99-184]

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)-‘Pallas and the Centaur’-tempera on canvas-ca 1482    Firenze-Galleria degli Uffizi

Unknown (4th century AD)-‘a pair of female Kentauroi raise a crown above the head of the goddess Aphrodite’-mosaic    Tunis-Musée du Bardo [Ovid; Metamorphoses, XII, 210]