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Jessica Ferro: Frieze from the Temple of Apollo at Bassai

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The Battle of Lapiths and the Centaurs

The battle of Lapiths and the Centaurs, was heavily depicted battle and known tale throughout the Ancient Greek era. This battle was once depicted on Ancient Greek buildings, such as the Temple of Apollo, the Parthenon and on Zeus' temple at Olympia. As the "legend goes, the centaurs were invited to the wedding of King Pirithous of the Lapiths and Hippodamia." As the wedding procession took place, the centaurs indulged in wine and other alcoholic beverages. This lead to centaurs being quite intoxicated. Once in a disorderly state, the drunk centaurs attempted to abduct Hippodameia, the newly wedded bride. After which the groom and the Lapith's, along with the help of Theseus, battled the barbaric centaurs. In this remaining piece of artwork that originated from the Temple of Apollo at Bassai, a fight between a centaur and Lapith solider are depicted. The unknown sculptor depicted the centaur in a frenzied state through his barbaric facial features and prolonged, animalistic torso. As the centaur reaches for the fallen Lapith solider's helmet, the left arm of the solider appears to be in motion; almost as if it is raising towards the centaur- as if to convey to the viewer it was a fight to the death. The grotesque battle and story of how the battle erupted, symbolizes the constant battle man faces within himself; wether to carry out a civilized, refined life or to fall short and follow his more animalistic behavior. When the story began, the centaurs were invited, civilized guest to the kings wedding. However, after over-indulging in wine, their mannerism began to change. They begin to give into their animalistic and barbaric ways and rampantly abduct the women of the wedding procession. The Lapiths; however, are able to retain control of themselves and instead of also giving into animalistic-or barbaric instincts, they instead fight to defend the women's honor and bring them back to Thessaly.

Works Cited:

“Archaeologies of the Greek Past.” The Lapiths and the Centaurs, https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/greekpast/4868.html.

Exarchopoulos, Socrates. “Centauromachy: Ancient Greek Mythology: Metopes of the Parthenon.” GHD, GHD, 28 Dec. 2016, https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2016/12/28/the-centauromachy.

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Kleitas & Ergotimos, François Vase (Athenian black-figure volute krater), from Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BCE. 2'2" high. Museo Archeologico, Florence.                                                    -jocelyn guerra trujillo-                                       

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Kleitas & Ergotimos, François Vase (Athenian black-figure volute krater), from Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BCE. 2'2" high. Museo Archeologico, Florence.                                                    -jocelyn guerra trujillo-                                       

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Centauromachy is the term that is most commonly referred as the battle between centaurs or between centaurs and men. This can be depicted in the image above that vividly expresses men & centaurs in battle with spears. Additionally, this specific vase contains a vast number of mythological figures in the five registers, so much so that the vase has over 200 mythological figures in the five registers in the same format as seen on Geometric and Orientalizing vases. This François Vase was named after the excavator who discovered it in an Etruscan tomb at Chiusi. It is important to note that this was no easy task to put on display for everyone to see because this vase was found in hundreds of fragments and had to be assembled. Furthermore, the vase is a new kind of krater with volute-shaped handles that were most likely inspired by costly metal prototypes. In addition, both the painter’s name (Kleitas) and the potter’s name (Ergotimos) are included in the vase & are seen twice amongst the 200 plus figures in five registers. Other labels that can be observed include labels naming humans, labels naming animals, and even labels naming inanimate objects. Another fascinating fact about this centauromachy depicted vase is that the painter singled out the lowest band to have depictions of the Orientalizing repertoire of animals and sphinxes. On the other hand, the other bands feature a selective encyclopedia of Greek mythology, focusing on the exploits of Peleus and his son, Achilles who is the great hero of Homer’s Iliad, and of Theseus, the legendary king of athens. In this chapter 5 when discussing the stories that can be deducted from this vase, this one struck me with utmost curiosity. It is told that among the prominent scenes depicted in the battle between the Lapiths (a northern tribe) & centaurs after a wedding celebration at which the man-beasts, who were invited guests, got drunk & attempted to abduct the Lapith maidens & young boys. I’ll never be able to wrap my head around how such detailed stories can be denoted from intricate drawings.

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The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs - Aime Garrido

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The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs - Aime Garrido

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The battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs is an extremely influential artwork during this era in art because of the context and symbolism artworks such as this one represent. Firstly, the context of this artwork and the others that are represented in this exhibit all have a common theme of conflict between the Lapiths and Centaurs. This is because of the Centaurs becoming unable to control animalistic and inhumane acts when under the influence of the alcohol served to them at a wedding. As a result, this led to a necessity of diluting wine with water to avoid situations where uncivilized behavior erupts. Additionally, this artwork is depicted on the setting of the Parthenon and on Zeus’ temple at Olympia. This is a direct connection to the artwork, and others in this exhibition, dating back to the Ancient Greek era. Uncivilized behavior, otherwise known as “barbaric” behavior, is entirely directed at the Centaurs for their unhinged actions when drunk at the wedding. They attempted to abduct the bride (Hippodameia), but fortunately Theseus came to the Lapith’s aid in battle and banished the Centaurs from Thessaly. Essentially, the Lapiths won with their defense and were able to salvage the event from becoming a grotesque scene. In this artwork, viewers can see that the Lapiths had overpowered the Centaurs during battle. A great example of this is seen where two Lapith warriors are seen battling a Centaur with a weapon, therefore giving him more strength and power over the direction of the battle. We can also see that layering is an important factor when observing this artwork. The Centaurs on a lower level than the Lapiths, especially the half of their body that is animalistic. That half of their body is seemingly on the ground, under the Lapith warriors and further giving them an advantage while fighting. The faces of the Centaurs express desperation and loss, very evidently displaying that they were on the losing side of this battle. On the other hand, the Lapiths wore expressions of anger and effortful strength, displaying their determination to fight. The battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs is a battle where the Lapiths were so determined to defeat the Centaurs, especially because the Lapiths believed that they were above them based on physical condition and strength. They were obsessed on perfecting a reality where everyone looked like them, while the Centaurs were content with their half-human and half-animal physique.

Works Cited:

Harrsch, Mary. "The Symbolism of the Cenrauromachy." Roman Times. https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-symbolism-of-centauromachy.html.

"Ixion and the Battle Between the Lapiths and Centaurs." Mythologie Grecque Interpretation. https://www.greekmyths-interpretation.com/en/lapiths-centaurs-interpretation/.

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The Lapiths and the Centaurs. - Edmund Galban

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The Lapiths and the Centaurs. - Edmund Galban

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This artwork depicts the global conflict between unrestrained violence of animals and humans by creating a narrative of a fighting scene after the outbreak of uncontrollable Centaurs because of humans mistakenly giving alcohol to the Centaurs. The Lapiths invited the half-human and half-horse creatures to a wedding but the liquor that the Centaurs got offered led to chaotic war by not being able to handle the effects of their drinks. The decrease in self-control brought out the rage of Centaurs as they began to harass the bride and all the visitors in the wedding as the Lapiths were forced to battle the race of the untamed side of humans. The sculpture includes drapery to bring a connection with the garment called the chiton near the shoulders of the full human with descending folds to indicate the chaotic atmosphere to prepare a blow to the centaur in battle. It depicts a centaur which is half human and animal struggling from the human to show the discord with the untamed nature of animals. The creature has human features on the upper part of the body while being able to move with the legs and hooves of a horse illustrating a mix of civilization and wilderness. The symbolism of the Metopes is the mistake of serving wine to the centaur being half-civilized but resulted in causing battles as centaurs became a bane to society by attempting immoral acts of rape to woman due to their drunken state. The geometry of the Lapith and Centaur shows perfect balance with both subjects moving in opposite directions resembling the High Classical art style. Lapith is shown holding back the centaur with his left hand on the face of the centaur as the movement of the human and creature show realism with their current poses from the action of the Lapith. The Centaur is trapped with an accurate pose being held back with the horse-like front leg lifted up indicating the harm the creature is experiencing. Lapith is determined to bring justice to the Centaur and is in the midst of being triumphant with the Centaur having its right arm behind its back covering its stab wounds from a possible spear that was lost in the war. The action and movements of the subjects seen allows the viewers to predict the death of the centaur displayed with the stab wound causing the creature to be vulnerable and the Lapith right arm stretched to deliver a final devastating blow. The overall message of the war between the Lapiths and Centaurs symbolizes the human struggle battling animalistic violence and civilization.

Works Cited:

Morgan, Charles H. “The Sculptures of the Hephaisteion: II. The Friezes.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 31, no. 3, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1962, pp. 221–35, https://doi.org/10.2307/147117.

Colvin, Sidney. “On Representations of Centaurs in Greek Vase-Painting.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 1, The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 1880, pp. 107–67, https://doi.org/10.2307/623617.