Metamorphoses · Chapter
Story of Cyllarus and Hylonome explained
In the midst of the Lapithaean conflict, the centaur Cyllarus, noted for his beauty and strength, is mortally wounded by a flying dart.
What happens
In the midst of the Lapithaean conflict, the centaur Cyllarus, noted for his beauty and strength, is mortally wounded by a flying dart. His beloved Hylonome, a nymph of surpassing beauty, cradles him as he dies, then takes the same dart and kills herself to join him in death. The narrative also recounts the feats of other centaurs and warriors, including Phaeocomes, Chthonius, Teleboas, and the prophet Mopsus.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Desire
The deep, mutual love between Cyllarus and Hylonome is central; Hylonome's devotion leads her to suicide to join her beloved.
Violence and Revenge
The brutal battle scenes, including graphic descriptions of wounds and deaths, highlight the theme of violence.
Mortality and Immortality
The centaurs and nymphs, though semi-divine, are subject to death; the story emphasizes the finality of mortal life.
Characters to notice
- Caeneus
Narrator of the story, recounting the deaths of Cyllarus and Hylonome and his own past exploits.
- Cyllarus
A beautiful centaur, beloved by Hylonome, who is mortally wounded by a dart in the battle.
- Hylonome
A nymph of double race, lover of Cyllarus, who kills herself after his death.
- Nessus
Mentioned as a centaur who fled from the battle.
- Mopsus
A prophet and warrior who fought valiantly in the conflict.
Key passages
“Nor could thy form, oh Cyllarus, foreslow Thy fate: (if form to monsters men allow:) Just bloom'd thy beard; thy beard of golden hue: Thy locks in golden waves about thy shoulders flew: Sprightly thy look! Thy shapes in every part So clean, as might instruct the sculptor's art, As far as man extended: where began The beast, the beast was equal to the man.”
Even your beauty, Cyllarus, could not delay your death (if we can call a centaur's form beautiful). Your beard was just beginning to grow, golden in color, and your hair flowed in golden waves over your shoulders. Your expression was lively, and your entire shape was so perfect that it could teach a sculptor, from the human part down to where the horse began, which was equally well-formed.
Describes Cyllarus's exceptional beauty and the futility of it against fate.
“In madness of her grief, she seized the dart New drawn, and reeking from her lover's heart; To her bare bosom the sharp point applied, And wounded fell; and falling by his side, Embraced him in her arms; and thus embracing died.”
Driven mad by grief, she grabbed the dart that had just been pulled from her lover's heart, still warm with blood. She pressed its sharp point to her own bare chest, fell wounded, and as she fell beside him, she embraced him and died in that embrace.
Hylonome's dramatic suicide to join Cyllarus in death.
“A stump too heavy for a team to draw, (It seems a fable, though the fact I saw,) He threw at Pholon; the descending blow Divides the scull, and cleaves his head in two. The brains, from nose, and mouth, and either ear, Came issuing out, as through a colander The curdled milk, or from the press the whey, Driven down by weights above, is drain'd away.”
He threw a tree stump so heavy that a team of oxen could not drag it (it sounds like a myth, but I saw it happen) at Pholon; the blow split his skull and cleaved his head in two. The brains came out of his nose, mouth, and both ears, like curdled milk or whey being pressed through a colander.
Graphic description of a violent death in battle.