Story of Centaurus
It was stated that after Ixion fell into insanity and was ostracized by his country, Zeus sympathized greatly with Ixion and brought him up to Olympus to dine with the gods. Here is where Ixion saw Hera, Zeus' wife and queen of the gods. He instantly fell in love with her beauty and began to desire her sexually. Zeus soon became aware of the situation. He was in disbelief that Ixion would betray him and his sincere kindness so he set a trap. Zeus found Ixion sleeping in a field and created a cloud figure of Hera. Zeus laid the figure, who was later named Nephele, next to Ixion. When Ixion awoke, he thought Hera was laying naked beside him and began to have sex with her. Zeus was so angry when he saw his suspicions confirmed that he drove Ixion from Mount Olympus, struck him with a thunderbolt, and then damned Ixion to be eternally bound to a flying burning wheel that would spin around the heavens nonstop (though it was later moved to Tartarus).
Nephele had a child from this union whose name came to be Centaurus. He was a deformed child who hunched over and found no peace amongst other humans. The only place where Centaurus felt like he belonged was on the mountain of Pelion. Here he roamed, lived, and mated with the Magnesian horses who resided there.
Read more about this topic: Centaurus (Greek Mythology)
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