Centaurs
Centaurs are a mythical creature which is half man and half animal. The most common perception of a centaur is that of half man and half horse, although there are records of both dog centaurs, deer centaurs and lion centaurs which are often shown in coats of arms.
The first known appearance of centaurs in mythology are those of Assyria in 2000BC followed by India in 3000BC.
In Greek mythology there are two versions to the creation of centaurs. The first is that the centaurs are the sons of Ixion (king of the Lapiths) and Nephele (a cloud nymph). The second version is that the centaurs are the sons of Centaurus (son of Apollo and the nymph Stilbe) and the magnesian mares.
Centaurs were believed to have lived in the Magnesia and Mount Pelion regions in Thessaly, Mount Pholoe in Arcadia and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia.
Centaurs have often appeared in art, film and literature as well as being the star sign for Sagittarius. Centaurs have been found on ancient Greek and Egyptian pottery. More recently, centaurs have been characterised in fantasy literature such as the centaurs in CS Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" which has recently been transformed into film.