Editing Centaur (section)

===Creation of centaurs===
The centaurs were usually said to have been born of [[Ixion]] and [[Nephele]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nash |first=Harvey |date=June 1984 |title=The Centaur's Origin: A Psychological Perspective |journal=The Classical World |volume=77 |issue=5 |pages=273–291 |doi=10.2307/4349592 |jstor=4349592}}</ref> As the story goes, Nephele was a cloud made into the likeness of [[Hera]] in a plot to trick Ixion into revealing his lust for Hera to [[Zeus]]. Ixion seduced Nephele and from that relationship centaurs were created.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alexander |first=Jonathann |title=Tzetzes, Chiliades 9 |url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades9.html#20 |access-date=February 28, 2019 |website=Theoi.com |publisher=Theoi Project |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123201140/https://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades9.html#20 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another version, however, makes them children of [[Centaurus (Greek mythology)|Centaurus]], a man who mated with the [[Magnesia (regional unit)|Magnesia]]n mares. Centaurus was either himself the son of Ixion and Nephele (inserting an additional generation) or of [[Apollo]] and the nymph [[Stilbe]]. In the latter version of the story, Centaurus's twin brother was [[Lapithes (hero)|Lapithes]], ancestor of the [[Lapith]]s.

Another tribe of centaurs was said to have lived on [[Cyprus]]. According to [[Nonnus]], the '''Cyprian Centaurs''' were fathered by [[Zeus]], who, in frustration after [[Aphrodite]] had eluded him, spilled his seed on the ground of that land. Unlike those of mainland Greece, the Cyprian centaurs were ox-horned.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]''  5.611 ff., 14.193 ff. & 32.65 ff.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CYPRIAN CENTAURS (Kentauroi Kyprioi) - Half-Horse Men of Greek Mythology |url=http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiKyprioi.html |website=www.theoi.com |access-date=March 15, 2016 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123192044/https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentauroiKyprioi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

There were also the '''Lamian Pheres''', twelve rustic [[daimon]]es (spirits) of the [[Lamos (Cilicia)|Lamos river]]. They were set by [[Zeus]] to guard the infant [[Dionysos]], protecting him from the machinations of [[Hera]], but the enraged goddess transformed them into ox-horned Centaurs unrelated to the Cyprian Centaurs. The Lamian Pheres later accompanied Dionysos in his campaign against the Indians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LAMIAN PHERES - Centaurs of Dionysus in Greek Mythology |url=http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/PheresLamioi.html |website=www.theoi.com |access-date=March 15, 2016 |archive-date=June 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606105253/https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/PheresLamioi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The centaur's half-human, half-horse composition has led many writers to treat them as [[liminal being]]s, caught between the two natures they embody in contrasting myths; they are both the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths (their kin), and conversely, teachers like [[Chiron]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chiron {{!}} Greek mythology {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chiron-Greek-mythology |access-date=October 27, 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=October 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027002108/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Chiron-Greek-mythology |url-status=live }}</ref>