Latreus

Latreus is presented in literary Greek myth as one individual of the centaur-kind associated with Thessaly and the Pelion/Pineios valley. He appears in the mythic-historical episode of the Centauromachy — the battle between centaurs and Lapiths at the wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia — where named combatants are singled out. Primary narrative attestations place him among the centaurs arrayed in that battle (notably in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 12, and related summaries and retellings).

Sources describe Latreus as a centaur (the half-human, half-horse form typical of the race) and emphasize his large, martial aspect. Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book 12) notes: "Latreus, huge of limb, had killed and stripped Emathian Halesus. Now in his armor he came rushing out, in years he was between old age and youth, but he retained the vigor of his youth, his temples showed his hair was mixed with grey." Beyond this passage the supplied materials provide no unique iconographic features beyond the standard centaur form, armor, and the aged-but-vigorous detail of greying temples.

The sources attribute to Latreus martial prowess and aggressive behavior as a combatant in the Centauromachy: he is said to have killed and stripped Halesus, to close upon Caeneus intending to use his sword, and to be forceful enough that his blade fractures in an effort to wound Caeneus. He taunts Caeneus concerning Caeneus/Caenis's sex/identity in at least one reported line, provoking combat. Ultimately the narratives record that Latreus is slain by Caeneus (accounts in Ovid and related retellings). The supplied texts do not ascribe supernatural powers beyond combat skill and aggression.