Ipotane

Ipotane

In Greek mythology, Ipotanes were a race of half-horse, half-humans, unlike the satyrs, who were half-goat. [ [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/sileni.html Encyclopedia Mythica - Sileni] "Greek woodland gods or spirits, closely connected to the satyrs. They were occasionally referred to as being half-man half-horse, in stead of half-man half-goat. The Sileni were portrayed as lechers and drunkards, bald-headed and pot-bellied, with thick lips and stub noses, and with the tails and ears of a horse. The flute and lyre are their attributes. The Sileni can often be found in the company of Dionysus. Later mentioned as only one Silenus, the tutor and companion of Dionysus."]

The typical Ipotane looked overall human, but had the legs, hindquarters, tail, and ears of a horse. However, some had humanlike rather than horselike legs (compare with early Centaurs, whose front legs were often humanlike). The Greek suggested by "ipotane" is Polytonic|ἱππότης ( _gr. hippotas). It means a person riding a horse. It is also used as an adjective as in Polytonic|ἱππότης λεὼς ( _gr. hippotas leos) — horse riding people. The definition given above would fit Polytonic|ἱππότης λεὼς — "horse-people".

Cf. Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon.

Such a person would not look "overall human"; rather, the torso would look human.

References


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