ABSTRACT
The principal myths associated with the Centaurs concern their war with the Lapiths, a neighbouring Thessalian nation, descended (like themselves, according to one version) from Ixion, but as civilised as the Centaurs were wild and unbridled. The fighting broke out at the wedding of the Lapiths’ king Pirithous to Hippodamia (or Deidamia). The Centaurs had claimed Pirithous’ kingdom on the ground that they were Ixion’s true heirs. But Pirithous thought that the dispute had already been peacefully settled, and invited them to his wedding. The Centaurs arrived but inflamed by the wine, to which they were unaccustomed, they tried to seize the women of the Lapiths, and one of their number, Eurytion, even tried to carry off the bride. A fight ensued and many Centaurs were slain. This scene is depicted in the Parthenon metopes.
