ichthyocentaur

"fish-centaurs." Τhat is, a fish-centaur, or a particular kind of Triton. The ichthyocentaurs (ιχθυοκένταυροι) were fabulous beings, the upper part of whose body was conceived to have a human form, and the lower that of a fish, while the place of the hands was occupied by a horse's feet. They differed from the ordinary Tritons by the fact that the latter were simply half men and half fish, and had not the feet of horses. Their names are Aphros and Bythos.

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Iconography

A Roman mosaic from Zeugma, Turkey, (1st-2nd century CE) depicts the new-born Aphrodite being carried in a shell by Aphros and Bythos.

References

Sources

  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.
  • Tzetzes on Lycophron, 34, 886, 892.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.