The
Lapiths (; ) are a legendary people of
Greek mythology, whose home was in
Thessaly, in the valley of the
Peneus and on the mountain
Pelion. They were an
Aeolian tribe. Like the
Myrmidons and other Thessalian tribes, the Lapiths were pre-Hellenic in their origins. The genealogies make them a kindred people with the
Centaurs: in one version,
Lapithes (Λαπίθης) and
Centaurus (Κένταυρος) were said to be twin sons of the god
Apollo and the nymph
Stilbe, daughter of the river god
Peneus. Lapithes was a valiant warrior, but Centaurus was a deformed being who later mated with mares from whom the race of half-man, half-horse
Centaurs then came. Lapithes was the
eponymous ancestor of the Lapith people, and his descendants include Lapith warriors and kings, such as
Ixion,
Pirithous,
Caeneus, and
Coronus, and the seers
Idmon and
Mopsus.
