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Lapith, a MythSource painting
Greek

Lapith

01Identity

Lapith in Greek tradition

Lapith is the ancestor who settled in Thessaly and gave his name to the Lapiths. Apollo and Stilbe were his parents, and he had a twin brother, Centaurus, who became the ancestor of the Centaurs in one account. Lapith married Orsinome and had two sons, Phorbas and Periphas, while his descendants later shared Thessaly with the Centaurs before expelling them under Peirithoos.

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02The myths

The myths of Lapith

3 myths, with sources recorded for each.

The Birth of Lapith

Apollo and the nymph Stilbe bore twin sons. They named the first Lapithes and the second Centaurus. Centaurus also appeared as Centauros in one form of the name. The birth joined the two brothers in one family and placed them at the beginnings of the Lapith and Centaur lines.

Lapithes became the ancestor of the Lapiths. Centaurus became the ancestor of the Centaurs. In this telling, the Centaurs descended from Centaurus, who was born to Apollo and Stilbe, while Lapithes became the ancestor of the people who shared his name. Another telling made Centaurus the son of Ixion and the cloud nymph Nephele, rather than the son of Apollo and Stilbe.

The later descendants took different paths. The Centaurs were wild, violent, and uncivilised, and they fought the Lapiths in the Centauromachy. The Lapith king Pirithous held a wedding feast for Hippodamia, but the feast turned into a battle when the Centaurs attacked. The Lapiths fought their kinsmen and later drove them from Thessaly into Arcadia. Chiron stood apart from the other Centaurs. Cronus and the Oceanid Philyra were his parents, so Centaurus was not his direct ancestor. Chiron taught heroes, practised medicine, and was called the wisest and justest of the Centaurs. The birth of Lapithes and Centaurus therefore began the two lines that later met in war.

The Birth of Lapith, a MythSource painting of the scene

2 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1War in Greek MythologyT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Apollo and Stilbe have twin sons, Lapith and Centaurus, from whom the Lapiths and Centaurs derive their names.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

Lapith Founds the Lapiths

Lapith settled in Thessaly. He became the eponymous ancestor and founder of the Lapith people, who took their name from him. The tradition gives no account of his parentage, his companions, or the circumstances of his arrival. It records the settlement itself and the name that the people thereafter bore.

The Lapiths were a Thessalian people. Their territory was associated with the Centaurs, and the two groups became neighbours. In a later generation, Peirithoos ruled the Lapiths as their king. Under his command, they drove Cheiron and the other Centaurs out of Thessaly. The Centaurs were forced from the region to which the Lapith settlement belonged.

The rivalry continued after this expulsion. The Centaurs invaded Lapith territory and surprised the main Lapith army, slaughtering many of its members. The survivors fled to Pholoe in Elis, where the Centaurs expelled them again. Other accounts place Lapith communities in the Arcadian mountains and on Mount Pindus, where members of this neolithic people survived until Classical times. Polyphemos is also named as a Lapith from Thessaly. Homer describes him as taking a heroic part in the war between the Lapiths and the Centaurs, and he was said to be married to Laonome, Heracles’ sister.

Lapith Founds the Lapiths, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Lapith settled in Thessaly and became the eponymous founder of the Lapith people.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3War in Greek MythologyT1

Lapith’s Marriage and Children

Lapith married Orsinome, and she bore two sons, Phorbas and Periphas. The family line continued through the two brothers.

Lapith’s Marriage and Children, a MythSource painting of the scene

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1
  3. 3Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Lapith and Orsinome have two sons, Phorbas and Periphas.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

Also mentioned in

Stories elsewhere on MythSource that mention Lapith, each on that figure’s page.