Centaurus (Greek mythology)

In Greek mythology, Centaurus was the founder of the Centaur race - a breed of half-men, half-horse warriors that inhabited northern Greece. Centaurus was said to be the son of the god Apollo and the nymph Stilbe, daughter of the River God Peneus. Centaurus had a twin brother named Lapithus, founder of the Lapiths. Whereas Lapithus was a noble warrior, Centaurus was born deformed, and spent his adulthood among the mares of Thessaly, mating with them and spawning the Centaurs.

Another version makes Centaurus the son of the Lapith king Ixion, begotten on a phantom named Nephele concocted by the god Zeus.