Centaurs in Art and Literature

I have already mentioned a few of the times in which Centaurs appear in art, but they are subjects more often than one may think. Generally, when Centaurs are depicted in artworks, they are involved in some type of wild of "bestial" behavior. As I mentioned in the earlier post, their fight with the Lapiths was depicted in a Michelangelo sculpture. However, that particular battle is a very common subject in art works involving centaurs, especially sculptures. Sculpture isn't the only type of art involving centaurs though. They appear on many vases as well as in paintings and other art forms.

The drunken nature of Centaurs is also a popular topic. They are often shown pulling the chariot of Dionysus, who is the god of wine.

 Even there promiscuous behaviors have been represented on some occasions by showing Centaurs being ridden by Eros, who was the god of love. That is meant to play off of their lustful actions.

Specifically, Christian art of the Middle Ages involving centaurs was symbolic of the animal instincts and behaviors of man.

Centaurs also appear in literature rather frequently. Ovid, who was a Roman poet described the centaurs' battle with the Lapiths in Metamorphoses. Ovid's work is said to have inspired another poet, Edmund Spenser to use the same topic in his writings of The Faerie Queen.

Shakespeare even makes reference to centaurs by mentioning the "Centaur Inn," in The Comedy of Errors.




http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Centaurs.html#b
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Centaur