Page:Modern Greek folklore and ancient Greek religion - a study in survivals.djvu/262

 the Centaurs, the Callicantzari, were properly men or demons. But one part of the conclusion at which we first arrived, namely that Callicantzari were originally men, is justified by Homer's and Hesiod's testimony.

What then of the other part of that conclusion? There is ancient proof that the Callicantzari were originally men; but what witness is there to the metamorphosis of those men into beasts? The Centaurs' alternative name, Pheres.

An ethnological explanation of this name has recently been put forward by Prof. Ridgeway. Concluding from the evidence of the Iliad that 'the Pheres are as yet nothing more than a mountain tribe and are not yet conceived as half-horse half-man,' he points out, on the authority of Pindar, that Pelion was the country of the Magnetes and that Chiron not only dwelt in a cave on Pelion, but is himself called a Magnete. 'It is then probable,' he continues, 'that the Centaur myth originated in the fact that the older race (the Pelasgians) had continued to hold out in the mountains, ever the last refuge of the remnants of conquered races. At first the tribes of Pelion may have been friendly to the (Achaean) invader who was engaged in subjugating other tribes with whom they had old feuds; and as the Norman settlers in Ireland gave their sons to be fostered by the native Irish, so the Achaean Peleus entrusted his son to the old Chiron. Nor must it be forgotten that conquering races frequently regard the conquered both with respect and aversion. They respect them for their skill as wizards, because the older race are familiar with the spirits of the land On the other hand, as the older race have been driven into the most barren parts of the land, and are being continually pressed still further back, and have their women carried off, they naturally lose no opportunity of making reprisals on their enemies, and sally forth from their homes in the mountains or forests to plunder and in their turn to carry off women. The conquering race consequently regard the aborigines with hatred, and impute to them every evil quality, though when it is necessary to employ sorcery they will always resort to one of the hated race.'