The Lapiths (; grc, Λαπίθαι) are a group of legendary people in
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
, whose home was in
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
, in the valley of the
Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers ( Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the La ...
and on the mountain
Pelion
Pelion or Pelium (Modern el, Πήλιο, ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/ Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the ...
.
Mythology
Origin
The Lapiths were an
Aeolian tribe who, like the
Myrmidons
In Greek mythology, the Myrmidons (or Myrmidones; el, Μυρμιδόνες) were an ancient Thessalian Greek tribe. In Homer's ''Iliad'', the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by Achilles. Their eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of ...
, were natives of Thessaly. The genealogies make them a kindred people with the
centaurs
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...
: In one version,
Lapithes
The Lapiths (; grc, Λαπίθαι) are a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion.
Mythology
Origin
The Lapiths were an Aeolian tribe who, like the Myr ...
(Λαπίθης) and
Centaurus (Κένταυρος) were said to be twin sons of the god
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
and the nymph
Stilbe, daughter of the river god
Peneus
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers ( Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the La ...
. Lapithes was a valiant warrior, but Centaurus was a deformed being who later mated with mares from whom the race of half-man, half-horse centaurs came. Lapithes was the
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
ous ancestor of the Lapith people, and his descendants include Lapith warriors and kings, such as
Ixion,
Pirithous
Pirithous (; grc-gre, Πειρίθοος or , derived from ; also transliterated as Perithous), in Greek mythology, was the King of the Lapiths of Larissa in Thessaly, as well as best friend to Theseus.
Biography
Pirithous was a son of ...
,
Caeneus, and
Coronus, and the seers
Ampycus and his son
Mopsus.
In the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'' the Lapiths send forty crewed ships to join the Greek fleet in the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
, commanded by
Polypoetes (son of Pirithous) and
Leonteus (son of Coronus, son of Caeneus). The mother of Pirithous, the Lapith king in the generation before the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
, was
Dia, daughter of Eioneus or
Deioneus
In Greek mythology, Deioneus (; Ancient Greek: Δηιονεύς means "ravager") or Deion (; Ancient Greek: ) is a name attributed to the following individuals:
*Deioneus, king of Phocis and son of King Aeolus of Aeolia and Enarete, daughter ...
;
Ixion was the father of Pirithous, but like many heroic figures, Pirithous had an immortal as well as a mortal father.
Zeus was his immortal father, but the god had to assume a stallion's form to cover Dia for, like their half-horse cousins, the Lapiths were horsemen in the grasslands of Thessaly, famous for its horses. The Lapiths were credited with inventing the
bridle's bit. The Lapith King Pirithous was marrying the horsewoman
Hippodameia, whose name means "tamer of horses", at the wedding feast that made a war, the Centauromachy, famous.
Centauromachy
In the Centauromachy, the Lapiths battle with the Centaurs at the wedding feast of Pirithous. The Centaurs had been invited, but, unused to wine, their wild nature came to the fore. When the bride was presented to greet the guests, the centaur
Eurytion leapt up and attempted to abduct her. All the other centaurs were up in a moment, straddling women and boys. In the battle that ensued,
Theseus
Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes describ ...
came to the Lapiths' aid. They cut off Eurytion's ears and nose and threw him out. After the battle the defeated Centaurs were expelled from Thessaly to the northwest.
The Lapith
Caeneus was originally a young woman named Caenis and the favorite of
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
, who changed her into a man at her request, and made Caeneus into an invulnerable warrior. Such
warrior women, indistinguishable from men, were familiar among the
Scythian horsemen too. In the battle with the centaurs Caeneus proved invulnerable, until the Centaurs crushed him with rocks and trunks of trees. He disappeared into
the depths of the earth unharmed and was released as a sandy-headed bird.
In later contests, the Centaurs were not so easily beaten. Mythic references explained the presence into historic times of primitive Lapiths in
Malea and in the brigand stronghold of Pholoe in
Elis as remnants of groups driven there by the centaurs. Some historic Greek cities bore names connected with Lapiths, and the Kypselides of Corinth claimed descent from Cæneus, while the Phylaides of Attica claimed for progenitor Koronus the Lapith.
List of Lapiths
In art
As Greek myth became more mediated through philosophy, the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs took on aspects of the interior struggle between civilized and wild behavior, made concrete in the Lapiths' understanding of the right usage of God-given
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
, which must be tempered with water and drunk not to excess. The Greek sculptors of the school of
Pheidias
Phidias or Pheidias (; grc, Φειδίας, ''Pheidias''; 480 – 430 BC) was a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the st ...
conceived of the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs as a struggle between mankind and mischievous monsters, and symbolical of the great conflict between the civilized Greeks and "
barbarian
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...
s". Battles between Lapiths and Centaurs were depicted in the sculptured metopes on the
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, recalling Athenian
Theseus
Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages.
Theseus is sometimes describ ...
' treaty of mutual admiration with Pirithous the Lapith, leader of the
Magnetes, and on Zeus' temple at
Olympia The Battle of the Lapiths and centaurs was a familiar ''
symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...
'' theme for the
vase-painters.
A sonnet vividly evoking the battle by the French poet
José María de Heredia (1842–1905) was included in his volume ''Les Trophées''.
In the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
, the battle became a favorite theme for artists: An excuse to display close-packed bodies in violent confrontation. The young
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...
executed a marble bas-relief of the subject in Florence about 1492.
Piero di Cosimo's panel ''Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths'', now at the
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director of ...
,
was painted during the following decade. If it was originally part of a marriage chest, or ''
cassone'', it was perhaps an uneasy subject for a festive wedding commemoration. A frieze with a Centauromachy was also painted by
Luca Signorelli in his ''
Virgin Enthroned with Saints'' (1491), inspired by a Roman sarcophagus found at
Cortona
Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.
Toponymy
Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖� ...
, in
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
, during the early 15th century.
Footnotes
References
Sources
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External links
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{{Authority control
Lapiths in Greek mythology
Legendary tribes in Greco-Roman historiography