კენტავრების მითი პრეკლასიკური პერიოდის ანტიკურ მწერლობასა და ხელოვნებაში

Among the myriad of Greek myths, few have been preserved with such abundant and extensive evidence in literary and especially artistic forms as the myth of the Centaurs. In 1912, Paul Baur began a systematic study of the vast collection of Archaic Greek representations of the Centaurs. Since then new artworks have been discovered, which have been included in the “Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae”. In the present doctoral thesis, thirty-two such artworks are discussed, which are not referenced in the “Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae”. Some of these artworks are unpublished, while others have received less attention. The interest in this topic was demonstrated by an exhibition held at the Princeton University Art Museum in 2003, along with the accompanying catalogue titled “The Centaur's Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art”, designed for both general and scholarly audiences.
The dissertation focuses on three significant aspects of the Centaurs' myth: the myth regarding the origins of the Centaurs' race, for which the main source is the second Pythian ode by Pindar, the Thessalian centauromachy with the participation of the invulnerable hero Caeneus, and the Peloponnesian centauromachy. The fourth and final chapter of the dissertation is focused on examining two questions: the first question explores how and under what historical circumstances the myth of the Centaurs originated among the Greeks; the other question investigates the significance of the myth during the pre-Classical period.
The doctoral thesis further develops the research initiated by Baur in his monograph. It integrates philological, literary, and artistic perspectives to explore the representation of the mythical half-horse, half-human beings in the works of various ancient Greek writers, vase-painters, engravers, and sculptors from the Geometric, Orientalizing, and Archaic periods. The dissertation holds significance for classicists as it delves into previously unpublished or lesser-known artworks as well as provides new interpretations of several familiar literary texts and artefacts.