ly of a man and partly of a horse; and it was from this
simple origin, according to some explanations, that the fable of the
Centaurs sprung. We must remark, that we place no confidence in the
proposed etymology of the word Centauros, and almost as little in the
explanation of the story. The centaur Chiron in Homer was a model of
justice, and the poet appears to have had no idea of the monstrous
combination of two animals. Pindar, in his second Pythian Ode, first
makes us acquainted with the Hippocentaur, or half horse and half man.
Though it cannot be imagined that the Greeks ever regarded this
tradition otherwise than as a fable, so far as the double nature of
the animal was concerned, yet it is curious, to observe, with what
care and devotion they recorded the particulars of this fiction in
their poems, sculpture, paintings, and other monuments of art. The
Centaurs were invited to the nuptials of Pirithous, king of the
Lapithae. During the marriage feast, one of the Centaurs, named
Eurytion, or Eurytus, with the characteristic brutality of his nature,
and elated by the effects of wine, offered violence to the person of
Hippodamia, the bride. This outrageous act was immediately resented by
Theseus, the friend of Pirhitous, who hurled a large vessel of wine at
the head of the offender, which brought him lifeless to the ground. A
general engagement then ensued between the two parties; and the
Centaurs not only sought to revenge the death of their companion,
Eurytus, but likewise attempted to carry off the females who were
guests at the nuptials. In this conflict, sustained on both sides with
great fury, the Centaurs were finally vanquished, and driven out of
Thessaly; after which they took up their abode in Arcadia, where they
provoked the anger of Hercules, who completely destroyed the whole of
their race. Such is the general outline of the mythic history of the
Centaurs."

Bearing this outline of the classical story in his mind, the visitor
may at once proceed to examine the first eleven slabs upon which the
incidents in the story of the Centaurs and the Lapithae are
elaborated. The visitor will, of course, begin with tablet No. 1, and
proceed to the others in the regular order in which they are marked.

On approaching the first slab (1) the visitor will perceive a Centaur
overcome by two Lapithae, and about to be dispatched. Another Centaur
from behind, however, arrests the uplifted arm of one Lapitha. The
battle p