Centaurs In Fiction

Though centaurs in their original Greco-Roman mythology were not lovable, kind-hearted frolicking types, modern fiction paints a much more easily digested image of the creatures consistently. Generally, in Greek and Roman tradition, centaurs were everything wild, barbaric, filthy, and so on. They took what they wanted, usually nymphs, or mortal women, food, and they were unruly and boisterous. In literature and fiction they are painted as usually being wise, valiant, and so on. Some examples are listed below:

Foaly – An adorable name for the centaur in the Artemis Fowl series, created by author Eoin Colfer. Foaly is described as being the wisest and most intelligent of all the centaurs.

The various frolicking centaurs in Fantasia – They do have a few moments of seriousness, later on in the movie, when things are taking a turn for the worse, so stay tuned if you can’t handle the prancing.

The centaurs from the Harry Potter books – J.K. Rowling describes her centaurs as having the ability to foresee the future; except they don’t really like to come right out and say it. Living in the Forbidden Forest will do that to you.

The centaurs in the Chronicles of Narnia – The series of books by  C.S. Lewis is becoming more popular every day, because of the feature film business, and also more controversial, because of its heavy religious undertones. The centaurs found in this series are loyal, brave, and generally, everything you could want in a man. Literally, everything, especially anatomically. However, they don’t play a major part until the second book in the series; they mainly serve as a glorified system of support, like the rest of the talking animals.

The centaurs in Percy Jackson & The Olympians – Also very friendly, despite the setting of the story, which one would think was a natural prerequisite for a little mythological accuracy, but no. These centaurs were nice enough to help Camp Half Blood in their battle against Kronos and Luke.