who were the Lapithai?

Answer 1

In Greek mythology, the Lapithae were a mythical race, whose home was in Thessaly in the valley of the Peneus. The genealogies make them a kindred race with the Centaurs, their king Peirithoiis being the son, and the Centaurs the grandsons of Ixion.
The best-known legends with which they are connected are those of Ixion and the battle with the Centaurs. A well-known Lapith was Caeneus, said to have been originally a girl named Caenis, the favourite of Poseidon, who changed her into a man and made her invulnerable. In the Centaur battle, having been crushed by rocks and trunks of trees, he was changed into a bird, or he disappeared into the depths of the earth unharmed. According to some, the Lapithae are representatives of the giants of fable, or spirits of the storm according to others. They are a semi-legendary, semi-historical race, Like the Myrmidons and other Thessalian tribes. The Greek sculptors of the school of Pheidias conceived of the battle of the Lapithae and Centaurs as a struggle between mankind and mischievous monsters, and symbolical of the great conflict between the Greeks and Persians.

Answer 2

The Lapiths or Lapithai (singular: lapith, italiano lapiti, français lapithes, deutsch lapithen) were a semi-mythological popoulation of Ancient Greece. The fight between centaurs and lapithai is a common subject in ancient art.


THE KENTAUROI (or Centaurs) were a tribe of half man, half horse savages which inhabited the mountains and forests of Magnesia. They were a primitive race who made their homes in mountain caves, hunted wild animals for food and armed themselves with rocks and tree branches.
The Kentauroi were spawned by the cloud nymph Nephele who was raped by the impious Lapith King Ixion. Her double-formed brood were deposited on Mount Pelion where the daughters of the centaur-god Kheiron nursed and fostered them to adulthood.
They were once invited to attend the wedding of their half-brother Peirithoos, the Lapith king, but became drunk and attempted to carry off the bride and female guests. In the battle which ensued the tribe was all but wiped out.
Another group of Kentauroi made their home in the Peloponnese. These came into conflict with Herakles during his travels. They may originally been a seperate breed, although numerous writers combine their stories.


One author also mentions a tribe of bull-horned Cyprian Kentauroi.
Female Kentaurides were also known, though they only seem to appear in late art and literature.
Greek Name:
Transliteration:
Latin Spelling:
Translation: KentauroV
Kentauros
Centaurus
Centaur
Kentauroi
Kentauroi
Centauri
Centaurs

The Kentauroi were depicted with the upper bodies of men, from head to loins, set upon the body of a horse. Sometimes they were shown with the facial features of normal men, at other times they were portrayed with the snub noses and pointed ears of the rustic Satyroi

Answer 3

In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a semi-legendary, semi-historical race, whose home was in Thessaly in the valley of the Peneus. Like the Myrmidons and other Thessalian tribes, the Lapiths were pre-Hellenic in their origins. The genealogies make them a kindred race with the Centaurs. In one version, Lapithus and Centaurus were said to be twin sons of the god Apollo and the nymph Stilbe, daughter of the River God Peneus. Lapithes was a valiant warrior, but Centaurus was a deformed being who later mated with mares, from whom the half-man, half-horse Centaurs sprang. Lapithus was the ancestor of the Lapith race, and his descendents include Lapith warriors and kings, such as Ixion, Pirithous, Caeneus, and Coronus, and the seers Idmon and Mopsus.