66-518: A kinnara (Sanskrit: Kiṃnara) is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology . They are described as part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. Believed to come from the Himalayas , they often watch over the well-being of humans in times of trouble or danger. An ancient Indian string instrument is known as the Kinnari vina . Their character is also clarified in
132-860: A Bronze Age origin for these creatures of myth. A painted terracotta centaur was found in the "Hero's tomb" at Lefkandi , and by the Geometric period , centaurs figure among the first representational figures painted on Greek pottery. An often-published Geometric period bronze of a warrior face-to-face with a centaur is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In Greek art of the Archaic period , centaurs are depicted in three different forms. There are also paintings and motifs on amphorae and Dipylon cups which depict winged centaurs. Centaurs were also frequently depicted in Roman art. One example
198-650: A bow is referred to as a sagittarius . Jerome's version of the Life of St Anthony the Great , written by Athanasius of Alexandria about the hermit monk of Egypt, was widely disseminated in the Middle Ages; it relates Anthony's encounter with a centaur who challenged the saint, but was forced to admit that the old gods had been overthrown. The episode was often depicted in The Meeting of St Anthony Abbot and St Paul
264-911: A complex range of interpretations. While according to Doniger O'Flaherty, the central message and moral values remain the same. They have been modified by various philosophical schools over time, and are taken to have deeper, often symbolic, meaning. Pantheism Vaishnavism (Vishnu-centric) Shaivism (Shiva-centric) Shaktism (Goddess-centric) Henotheism and Polytheism Dravidian folk religion ' (Indigenous Dravidian faith) Hinduism shares mythemes with Buddhism , Jainism , and Sikhism . Centaur A centaur ( / ˈ s ɛ n t ɔːr , ˈ s ɛ n t ɑːr / SEN -tor, SEN -tar ; Ancient Greek : κένταυρος , romanized : kéntauros ; Latin : centaurus ), occasionally hippocentaur , also called Ixionidae ( Ancient Greek : Ἰξιονίδαι , romanized : Ixionídai , lit. 'sons of Ixion '),
330-480: A divine king. Renunciate traditions contributed elements that questioned sacrifices and the killing of animals, and promoted asceticism and vegetarianism. All of these themes would be incorporated by the Brahmin classes into the later Hindu synthesis , which developed in response to the sramanic movements between ca. 500–300 BCE and 500 CE, and also found their way into Hindu mythology. The era from 400 BCE to 400 CE
396-593: A fierce and valiant race always faithful to the High King Aslan the Lion. In J.K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series, centaurs live in the Forbidden Forest close to Hogwarts , preferring to avoid contact with humans. They live in societies called herds and are skilled at archery, healing, and astrology, but like in the original myths, they are known to have some wild and barbarous tendencies. With
462-456: A fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders, arriving to punish a sinner who has just cursed God. In his Purgatorio , an unseen spirit on the sixth terrace cites the centaurs ("the drunken double-breasted ones who fought Theseus") as examples of the sin of gluttony . C.S. Lewis ' The Chronicles of Narnia series depicts centaurs as the wisest and noblest of creatures. Narnian Centaurs are gifted at stargazing, prophecy, healing, and warfare;
528-480: A fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths . For folklorists, historians, philosophers or theologians this is very different from the use of "myth" simply indicating that something is not true. Instead, the truth value of a myth is not a defining criterion. Hindu myths can be found in the Vedas , the itihasa ( Ramayana and Mahabharata ), and the major Puranas . Other sources include
594-510: A jar of treasure. A pair of Kinnara-Kinnari bas-reliefs of Sari temple is unique, depicting Kinnara as celestial humans with birds' wings attached to their backs, very similar to popular image of angels . There are bas-relief in Borobudur depicting the story of the famous kinnari, Manohara . In the pre-colonial Philippines, the Kinnara or Kinnari are symbolic of androgynous beauty and of
660-624: A lover's devotion, ethereal beauty, and one's undying devotion towards a lover. Pre-colonial gold pieces have been found depicting such otherworldly beauty. A golden image of Kinnari was excavated in Surigao at around 1981. It is a gold artefact that symbolises the feminine beauty for it is a half-woman, half- bird, and a religious significance for it encapsulates grace and accomplishment. The kinnari ( Thai : กินรี ), usually spelt 'kinnaree' as noted below, in Thai literature originates from India, but
726-481: A number of Buddhist texts, including the Jataka tales and Lotus Sutra . In Southeast Asian Buddhist mythology, kinnaris , the female counterpart of kinnaras, are depicted as half-bird, half-woman creatures. One of the many creatures that inhabit the mythical Himavanta , kinnaris have the head, torso, and arms of a woman and the wings, tail and feet of a swan. They are renowned for their dance, song and poetry, and are
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#1732772338799792-711: A particular ethnolinguistic group like the Tamil Periya Puranam and Divya Prabandham , and the Mangal Kavya of Bengal. Hindu myths are also found in widely translated popular texts such as the fables of the Panchatantra and the Hitopadesha , as well as in Southeast Asian texts. Myth is a genre of folklore or theology consisting primarily of narratives that play
858-613: A period of exuberant polytheism. However, this was also accompanied with the belief in monotheism, the idea that all paths lead to the Ultimate Reality, Brahman . According to Williams, during the Tantric period from 900 to 1600 CE, the mythology of Tantra and Shaktism revived and enriched blood sacrifice and the pursuit of pleasure as central themes. Tantra’s stories differed radically in meaning from those of epic mythology, which favored devotion, asceticism, and duty. There
924-489: A proud, elitist group of beings that consider themselves superior to all other creatures. The fourth book also has a variation on the species called an Alcetaur, which is part man, part moose. The myth of the centaur appears in John Updike 's novel The Centaur . The author depicts a rural Pennsylvanian town as seen through the optics of the myth of the centaur. An unknown and marginalized local school teacher, just like
990-415: A reconstructed Hindu mythological community. Academic studies of mythology often define mythology as deeply valued stories that explain a society's existence and world order: those narratives of a society's creation, the society's origins and foundations, their god(s), their original heroes, mankind's connection to the "divine", and their narratives of eschatology (what happens in the "after-life"). This
1056-551: A relief by Michelangelo . The most common theory holds that the idea of centaurs came from the first reaction of a non-riding culture, as in the Minoan Aegean world , to nomads who were mounted on horses. The theory suggests that such riders would appear as half-man, half-animal. Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported that the Aztecs also had this misapprehension about Spanish cavalrymen. The Lapith tribe of Thessaly, who were
1122-498: A river of boiling blood in which the violent against their neighbours are immersed, shooting arrows into any who move to a shallower spot than their allotted station. The two poets are treated with courtesy, and Nessus guides them to a ford. In Canto XXIV, in the eighth circle, in Bolgia 7, a ditch where thieves are confined, they meet but do not converse with Cacus (who is a giant in the ancient sources), wreathed in serpents and with
1188-478: A strong allurement. A classical dance titled Robam Kenorei depicts kinnaris playing in a lotus pond. The jinnalaluo (also called kimnaras , feiren , and yeishen ) were divine creatures with human bodies and animal's heads that were featured in Buddhist mythology . These beings resemble human bodies and have the heads of animals, most notably horses or birds . They are celestial musicians, whose music
1254-680: A study human skeleton with the skeleton of a Shetland pony , is entitled "Do you believe in Centaurs?". According to the exhibitors, it was meant to mislead students in order to make them more critically aware. Depictions of centaurs in a mythical land located south beyond the world's known continents appear on a map by Urbano Monti from 1587, sometimes called Monti's Planisphere. Centaurs are common in European heraldry, although more frequent in continental than in British arms. A centaur holding
1320-789: A traditional symbol of feminine beauty, grace and accomplishment. Edward H. Schafer notes that in East Asian religious art, the kinnara is often confused with the Kalaviṅka , which is also a half-human, half-bird hybrid creature, but that the two are actually distinct and unrelated. In Burma ( Myanmar ), kinnara are called keinnaya or kinnaya ( ကိန္နရာ [kèɪɰ̃nəjà] ). Female kinnara are called keinnayi or kinnayi ( ကိန္နရီ [kèɪɰ̃nəjì] ). In Shan , they are ၵိင်ႇၼရႃႇ ( Shan pronunciation: [kìŋ nǎ ràː] ) and ၵိင်ႇၼရီႇ ( Shan pronunciation: [kìŋ nǎ rì] ) respectively. Burmese Buddhists believe that out of
1386-412: A winged bird. In Nyingma Mantrayana traditions of Mahayoga Buddhadharma, the shang-shang symbolises 'enlightened activity' (Wylie: phrin las). The shang-shang is a celestial musician, and is often iconographically depicted with cymbals. A homonymic play on words is evident which is a marker of oral lore: the ' shang ' ( Tibetan : གཆང , Wylie : gchang ) is a cymbal or gong like ritual instrument in
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#17327723387991452-489: Is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly . In one version of the myth, the centaurs were named after Centaurus , and, through his brother Lapithes , were kin to the legendary tribe of the Lapiths . Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being as wild as untamed horses, and were said to have inhabited
1518-484: Is a very general outline of some of the basic sacred stories with those themes. In its broadest academic sense, the word myth simply means a traditional story. However, many scholars restrict the term "myth" to sacred stories. Folklorists often go further, defining myths as "tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters". In classical Greek , muthos , from which
1584-669: Is different from the centaur -like Kinnaras of the Hindu mythology. They are mentioned along with Devas , Gandharvas , Charanas , Siddhas , and Apsaras in mythological texts. The figure of Yaksha with a horse head illustrated in Bodh Gaya sculptures in however a kinnari as the Jataka illustrating it treats her as a demi-god. According to the Jatakas, kinnaras are fairies and are shown as going in pairs noted for mutual love and devotion. In
1650-404: Is said to fill Heaven . They play a variety of instruments and are linked to a very ancient Indian art form, where they are portrayed as birds-of-paradise . In Hindu mythology, kinnara is described as half-man, half-horse, and half-bird. The Vishnudharmottara describes Kinnara as half-man and half-horse, but the correct nature of kinnara as Buddhists understood is half-man and half-bird which
1716-727: Is shown as a horse with the torso of a man where the horse's head would be, and is similar to a Greek centaur. A centaur-like half-human, half-equine creature called Polkan appeared in Russian folk art and lubok prints of the 17th–19th centuries. Polkan is originally based on Pulicane , a half-dog from Andrea da Barberino 's poem I Reali di Francia , which was once popular in the Slavonic world in prosaic translations. The extensive Mycenaean pottery found at Ugarit included two fragmentary Mycenaean terracotta figures which have been tentatively identified as centaurs. This finding suggests
1782-486: Is the figure known as Manora ( Thai : มโนรา , derived from Manohara ), a heroine in one of the stories collected in "Pannas Jataka" a Pali tome written by a Chiang Mai Buddhist monk and sage around AD 1450–1470. This is supposed to be a collection of 50 stories of the past lives of the Buddha , known to Buddhists as the Jataka . The specific tale about Manora the kinnaree was called Sudhana Jataka, after Prince Sudhana,
1848-637: Is the pair of centaurs drawing the chariot of Constantine the Great and his family in the Great Cameo of Constantine ( circa AD 314–16), which embodies wholly pagan imagery, and contrasts sharply with the popular image of Constantine as the patron of early Christianity. Centaurs preserved a Dionysian connection in the 12th-century Romanesque carved capitals of Mozac Abbey in the Auvergne . Other similar capitals depict harvesters, boys riding goats (a further Dionysiac theme), and griffins guarding
1914-516: The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata , where they say: We are everlasting lover and beloved. We never separate. We are eternally husband and wife; never do we become mother and father. No offspring is seen in our lap. We are lover and beloved ever-embracing. In between us we do not permit any third creature demanding affection. Our life is a life of perpetual pleasures. They are featured in
1980-566: The Gigantes . Philip Jose Farmer 's World of Tiers series (1965) includes centaurs, called Half-Horses or Hoi Kentauroi. His creations address several of the metabolic problems of such creatures—how could the human mouth and nose intake sufficient air to sustain both itself and the horse body and, similarly, how could the human ingest sufficient food to sustain both parts. Brandon Mull 's Fablehaven series features centaurs that live in an area called Grunhold. The centaurs are portrayed as
2046-721: The Lamian Pheres , twelve rustic daimones (spirits) of the 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. The centaur's half-human, half-horse composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings , caught between
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2112-461: The bodhisattva who was also the hero of the story and the husband of Manora. In Tibet , the kinnara is known as the Miamchi ( Tibetan : མིའམ་ཅི་ , Wylie : mi'am ci ) or 'shang-shang' ( Tibetan : ཤང་ཤང , Wylie : shang shang ) (Sanskrit: civacivaka). This chimera is depicted either with just the head or including the whole torso of a human including the arms with the lower body as that of
2178-554: The chalice that held the wine. Centaurs are also shown on a number of Pictish carved stones from north-east Scotland erected in the 8th–9th centuries AD (e.g., at Meigle , Perthshire). Though outside the limits of the Roman Empire , these depictions appear to be derived from Classical prototypes. The John C. Hodges library at The University of Tennessee hosts a permanent exhibit of a "Centaur from Volos " in its library. The exhibit, made by sculptor Bill Willers by combining
2244-647: The 136 past animal lives of Buddha, four were kinnara. The kinnari is also one of the 108 symbols on the footprint of Buddha. In Burmese art, kinnari are depicted with covered breasts. The Myanmar Academy Awards statue for Academy Award winners is of a kinnari. The kinnara and kinnari couple is considered the symbol of the Karenni people. In Cambodia , the kinnaras are known in the Khmer language as kenar ( កិន្នរ , កិន្នរា ; IPA: [keˈnɑː] or IPA: [ken nɑ ˈraː] ). The female counterpart,
2310-549: The 3rd millennium BC. In a popular legend associated with Pazhaya Sreekanteswaram Temple in Thiruvananthapuram , the curse of a saintly Brahmin transformed a handsome Yadava prince into a creature having a horse's body and the prince's head, arms, and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse. Kinnaras , another half-man, half-horse mythical creature from Indian mythology , appeared in various ancient texts, arts, and sculptures from all around India . It
2376-682: The Bengali literature, such as Mangal-Kāvya , and the Tamil literature , such as Divya Prabandham , Tirumurai and the Five Great Epics . These narratives play a crucial role in the Hindu tradition and are considered real and significant within their cultural and spiritual context, offering profound insights into the beliefs and values of Hinduism. According to Joseph Campbell , the Indus Valley (2600–1900 BCE) may have left traces in
2442-677: The Chanda kinnara Jataka the devotion of the Kinnarai to her wounded kinnara husband brings Indra on the scene to cure him from the wound. The kinnaras are noted for their long life. The Jatakas describe the kinnaras as innocent and harmless, hop like birds, are fond of music and song, and with the female beating a drum and male playing on lute. Such harmless creatures are described in Jataka No.481 as being caught, put into cages, and thus presented to kings for their delight. In Jataka No.504, we have
2508-522: The English word myth derives, meant "story, narrative." Hindu mythology does not often have a consistent, monolithic structure. The same myth typically appears in various versions, and can be represented differently across different regional and socio-religious traditions. Many of these legends evolve across these texts, where the character names change or the story is embellished with greater details. According to Suthren Hirst, these myths have been given
2574-585: The Hermit by the painter Stefano di Giovanni , who was known as "Sassetta". Of the two episodic depictions of the hermit Anthony 's travel to greet the hermit Paul, one is his encounter with the demonic figure of a centaur along the pathway in a wood. Lucretius , in his first-century BC philosophical poem On the Nature of Things , denied the existence of centaurs, based on the differing rates of growth of human and equine anatomies. Specifically, he states that at
2640-425: The age of three years, horses are in the prime of their life while humans at the same age are still little more than babies, making hybrid animals impossible. Centaurs are among the creatures which 14th-century Italian poet Dante placed as guardians in his Inferno . In Canto XII, Dante and his guide Virgil meet a band led by Chiron and Pholus , guarding the bank of Phlegethon in the seventh circle of Hell,
2706-524: The autobiography of a kinnara who describes the kinnara class as human-like the wild things deem us; huntsmen call us goblins still. The kinnaras can sing, play the flute and dance with soft movements of the body. Kalidasa in his Kumara Sambhava describes them as dwelling in the Himalayas. kinnaras lived also over the hills of Pandaraka, Trikutaka, Mallangiri, Candapabbata, and Gandhamandana (Jataka No. 485). They were tender-hearted and Jataka No. 540 refers to
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2772-515: The beliefs and traditions of Hinduism. Artefacts have revealed motifs that are also employed and revered by Hindus today, such as primary male deities worshipped by a ruling elite, mother goddesses, nature spirits, snake worship, as well as the reverence of other theriomorphic (animal-shaped) beings. These themes would be maintained by the Dravidian folk religion even after the decline of its parent civilisation around 1800 BCE. A major factor in
2838-603: The development of Hinduism was the Vedic religion. The Indo-Aryan migration brought their distinct beliefs to the Indian subcontinent, where the Vedas were composed around 1500 BCE. The Indo-Aryans Vedic pantheon of deities included the chief god Indra , the sun deity Surya , Ushas , as well as Agni . This period saw the composition of commentaries referred to as the Brahmanas . According to Williams, from 900 to 600 BCE,
2904-632: The earth by Centaurs wielding rocks and the branches of trees. In her article "The Centaur: Its History and Meaning in Human Culture", Elizabeth Lawrence claims that the contests between the centaurs and the Lapiths typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism. The Centauromachy is most famously portrayed in the metopes of the Parthenon by Phidias and in the Battle of the Centaurs ,
2970-536: The exception of Chiron , the centaurs in Rick Riordan 's Percy Jackson & the Olympians are seen as wild party-goers who use a lot of American slang. Chiron retains his mythological role as a trainer of heroes and is skilled in archery. In Riordan's subsequent series, Heroes of Olympus , another group of centaurs are depicted with more animalistic features (such as horns) and appear as villains, serving
3036-526: The horse as a totem . A similar theory was incorporated into Mary Renault 's The Bull from the Sea . Though female centaurs, called centaurides or centauresses, are not mentioned in early Greek literature and art, they do appear occasionally in later antiquity. A Macedonian mosaic of the 4th century BC is one of the earliest examples of the centauress in art. Ovid also mentions a centauress named Hylonome who committed suicide when her husband Cyllarus
3102-650: The indigenous traditions of the Himalaya. The shang-shang is sometimes depicted as the king of the Garuda . Hindu mythology Traditional Hindu mythology is the body of myths attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion , found in Hindu texts such as the Vedas , the itihasa (the epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana , ) the Puranas , and mythological stories specific to
3168-565: The kinnari ( កិន្នរី ; IPA: [ken nɑ ˈrəj] ), are depicted in Cambodian art and literature more often than the male counterparts. They are commonly seen carved into support figurines for the columns of post-Angkorian architecture . Kinnari are considered symbols of beauty and are skilled dancers. The Kenorei is a character archetype in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia , appearing as mischievous groups that have
3234-485: The kinsmen of the Centaurs in myth, were described as the inventors of horse-riding by Greek writers. The Thessalian tribes also claimed their horse breeds were descended from the centaurs. Robert Graves (relying on the work of Georges Dumézil , who argued for tracing the centaurs back to the Indian Gandharva ), speculated that the centaurs were a dimly remembered, pre-Hellenic fraternal earth cult who had
3300-550: The major Puranic texts of the faith, along with the rise of sectarianism, with followers amassing around the cults of Vishnu , Shiva , or Devi . The three denominations within this period help locate in time historical developments within the sectarian communities, the rise and decline of Tantrism and its influence on mainstream mythology, the tendencies in Puranic mythologising of subordinating Vedic gods and past heroes to ever-increasing moral weaknesses, going on to be identified as
3366-507: The mythological Chiron did for Prometheus, gave up his life for the future of his son who had chosen to be an independent artist in New York. Other hybrid creatures appear in Greek mythology, always with some liminal connection that links Hellenic culture with archaic or non-Hellenic cultures: Also, Additionally, Bucentaur , the name of several historically important Venetian vessels,
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#17327723387993432-588: The next two periods. The Mahabharata contained two appendices that were extremely important sources for later mythological development, the Bhagavad Gîta and the Harivamsa . According to Williams, the mythology of the Puranas can be broken into three periods (300–500; 500–1000; 1000–1800), or the whole period may simply be referred to as the Hindu Middle Ages. This age saw the composition of
3498-568: The nymph Stilbe . In the latter version of the story, Centaurus's twin brother was Lapithes , ancestor of the Lapiths . 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. There were also
3564-476: The paintings of Ajanta depict kinnaras invariably. Frequently, they are seen in the sculptures flanking the stupas. In this case, they hold garlands or trays containing flowers in their hands for the worship of the Stupas. Sometimes, the kinnaras appear in the sculptures holding garland in right hand and tray in the left hand. They also appear before Bodhi-Drumas, Dharmacakras, or playing a musical instrument. As such,
3630-406: The portrayal of kinnaras in early Indian sculpture art is very common. The images of coupled kinnara and kinnari can be found in Borobudur , Mendut , Pawon , Sewu, Sari, and Prambanan temples. Usually, they are depicted as birds with human heads, or humans with lower limbs of birds. The pair of kinnara and kinnari usually is depicted guarding Kalpataru , the tree of life, and sometimes guarding
3696-800: The protests of the populace against sacrifices made towards the Vedic gods and rebellions against the Brahmin class led to the embrace of reform by the latter and the composition of the fourth Veda and the Vedanta texts. About half of the Upanishads were mystical and unitive, speaking of experiencing the divine as the one (ekam), while the other half promoted devotion to one or more deities. New gods and goddesses were celebrated, and devotional practices began to be introduced. Elements such as those emerging from Buddhism and Jainism made their "heteroprax" contributions to later Hindu mythology, such as temples, indoor shrines, and rituals modeled after service to
3762-697: The region of Magnesia and Mount Pelion in Thessaly, the Foloi oak forest in Elis , and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia . Centaurs are subsequently featured in Roman mythology , and were familiar figures in the medieval bestiary. They remain a staple of modern fantastic literature. The Greek word kentauros is generally regarded as being of obscure origin. The etymology from ken + tauros , 'piercing bull',
3828-410: The rest of the Lapith women on the day of Hippodamia's marriage to Pirithous , who was the king of the Lapithae and a son of Ixion. Theseus , a hero and founder of cities, who happened to be present, threw the balance in favour of the Lapiths by assisting Pirithous in the battle. The Centaurs were driven off or destroyed. Another Lapith hero, Caeneus , who was invulnerable to weapons, was beaten into
3894-479: The story of the kinnaras nursing a human baby whose parents have gone away to the woods. Yet, we find that they were looked upon as queer animals and were hunted, captured and presented to the kings as entertainment. Flowers formed their dress. Their food was flower pollen and their cosmetics were made of flower perfumes. The depiction of kinnara in early Indian art is an oft-repeated theme. The ancient sculptures of Sanchi, Barhut, Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda, Mathura, and
3960-432: 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 . The Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapiths who, according to one origin myth, would have been cousins to the centaurs. The battle, called the Centauromachy, was caused by the centaurs' attempt to carry off Hippodamia and
4026-421: Was a euhemerist suggestion in Palaephatus ' rationalizing text on Greek mythology, On Incredible Tales (Περὶ ἀπίστων), which included mounted archers from a village called Nephele eliminating a herd of bulls that were the scourge of Ixion's kingdom. Another possible related etymology can be "bull-slayer". The centaurs were usually said to have been born of Ixion and Nephele . As the story goes, Nephele
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#17327723387994092-406: 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. Another version, however, makes them children of Centaurus , a man who mated with the Magnesian mares. Centaurus was either himself the son of Ixion and Nephele (inserting an additional generation) or of Apollo and
4158-414: Was either a revival or emphasis that was placed on the shakti or the cosmic energy of goddesses, a concept that had emerged during the Indus Valley Civilisation. In the contemporary era, the mythologies of the dominant traditions of Vaishnavism , Shaivism , and Shaktism prevail. Several myths were found or invented to make tribals or former "outcastes" Hindus and bring them within the cultural whole of
4224-434: Was killed in the war with the Lapiths. The Kalibangan cylinder seal , dated to be around 2600–1900 BC, found at the site of Indus-Valley civilization shows a battle between men in the presence of centaur-like creatures. Other sources claim the creatures represented are actually half human and half tigers, later evolving into the Hindu Goddess of War . These seals are also evidence of Indus-Mesopotamia relations in
4290-450: Was modified to suit Thai culture. The Thai kinnari is depicted as a young woman wearing an angel-like costume. The lower part of the body is similar to a bird, and should enable her to fly between the human and the mystical worlds. The most popular portrayal of kinnaree in Thai art probably the golden figures of kinnaree adorned the Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, which describe a half-maiden, half-goose figure. The most famous kinnari in Thailand
4356-408: Was the period of the compilation of India’s great epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana . These were central manifestations of the newly developing Hindu synthesis, contributing to a specific Hindu mythology, emphasising divine action on earth in Vishnu 's incarnations and other divine manifestations. The lore of the devas and the asuras expanded. Epic mythology foreshadowed the rich polytheism of
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