The Origin of the Word: Centaur

It was only recently while questioning why Centaurs are called centaurs that I stumbled on an interesting fact; they were occasionally referred to as Hippocentaurs.

Why is that interesting? Well, Centaur doesn’t have any roots that mean horse — taur could be Taurus AKA bull, and cen, I’m not sure. But the Greek for a horse is Hippos. You may know the root of the word from the hippocampus – a part of the brain that is said to resemble a seahorse.

The ancient Greek for Seahorse, is, in fact, Hippocampus, hippocamp or hippokampoi, depending on who you are. With Hippo being horse and campus meaning sea-monster. So the literal translation of hippocampus would be horse-sea-monster.

Hippos meaning horse shows that the word centaur is likely shortened from hippocentaur as that would make logical sense. But did they drop the horse bit?

Etymology

Centaur means bull-killer: The is a theory that Centaurs could have originated from a tribe of expert horsemen that kept and hunted bulls – the cowboys of Ancient Greece. It makes you think what future historians will think when we mention cowboys, doesn’t it?

Centaurs are said to have lived mainly in Thessaly, where there was a tradition of hunting bulls on horseback. It is possible that the origin of the Kentauri myth lies there, and that Centaurs were the mythological counterparts of the ferocious and skilful horsemen of Thessaly, who used to hunt and kill bulls.

The myth of the centaurs could easily have been built up around men that were such keen riders, it was as if the horse was part of them. The Greeks may well have got the idea of the centaur from these expert horsemen and hunters. Note that Thessalians had the best cavalry in ancient Greece, next to the Macedonians. This too would have stoked the fire of myth even more.

Are Female Centaurs Called Centaurs too?

This is a good question, and up until recently I was under the impression that a female centaur would, of course, be called a centaur! My understanding was that the word would most likely be an amalgam of horse and person, in the way that mermaid is… except, mermaid is the female version and merman is the male. Apparently, Centaurs are the same, with Centauride or the Centauress being the chosen term for the female centaur.

Centaurs in Greek Mythology

In Greek Mythology

Modern Appearances of Centaurs

Sources & Further Reading

Theoi.com

Britannica.com

Greekmythology.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur

Centaurs

Typically a dragon is depicted as being scaled, and reptilian or serpentine in appearance, and often fire-breathing. They also usually have avian traits, such as being winged, and occasionally feathered. Though they feature heavily across the globe, there is always a likelihood that myth naturally spread between cultures – the two most well-known and well-documented cultural traditions of dragons are

The European Dragon

The European dragon would have originated from European folk traditions and mythologies from the Balkans and Western Asia. Dragons are usually depicted as reptilian or serpentine creatures with animal-level intelligence rather than higher intelligence that they are sometimes imbued today, where they have the ability to talk. Dragons at this time were usually shown as having 6 limbs – four legs and a separate set of wings.

The Chinese Dragon

The Chinese dragon, which in turn would have influenced all of the Asian interpretation of the Dragon, such as the Japanese dragon, and those of Korea and other East Asian and South Asian countries. Most of these dragons are depicted as serpentine creatures, they are quadrupeds, with four legs, but lack the wings of the European counterparts. They also differ from the European dragon, with their above-average intelligence.