[12] ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΚΕΝΤΑΥΡΟΥ ΑΓΑΛΜΑ. Εἰς ἱερὸν εἰσιὼν σεμνόν τι καὶ μέγα, ὃ τὴν καλλίστην εἰκασίαν εἰς ἑαυτὸ μεθίστη, ἐν τοῖς προπυλαίοις τοῦ νεὼ ἱδρυμένον θεῶμαι κένταυρον οὐκ ἀνδρὶ κατὰ τὴν Ὁμήρειον εἰκόνα, ἀλλὰ ῥίῳ παραπλήσιον ὑλήεντι. ἄνθρωπος ἦν ἄχρι λαγόνος κατιὼν ὁ κένταυρος εἰς ἵππου βάσιν τετρασκελῆ λήγων. τὸν γὰρ ἵππον καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἡ Φύσις ἐξ ἡμισείας τεμοῦσα εἰς ἓν σῶμα συνήρμοσε τὰ μὲν ἀποκρίνασα τῶν μερῶν, τὰ δὲ ἀλλήλοις τεχνησαμένη σύμφωνα· τῆς μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνης ὅσον ἀπ´ ἰξύος εἰς ἄκραν ἀποφέρεται τὴν βάσιν ἀφεῖλε, τοῦ δὲ ἱππείου σώματος ὅσον εἰς ὀμφαλὸν καταβαίνει τεμοῦσα τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ συνῆγε τύπῳ, ὡς τὸν μὲν ἵππον τὴν κεφαλὴν ποθεῖν καὶ τοὺς αὐχενίους τένοντας καὶ ὅσον εἰς τὸ νῶτον καταβαῖνον εὐρύνεται, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον τὸν ἀπὸ ὀμφαλοῦ μέχρι τῆς βάσεως στηριγμὸν ζητεῖν. τοιούτου δὲ ὄντος τοῦ σώματος εἶδες ἂν καὶ θυμὸν ἐπιπνέοντα τῷ τεχνήματι καὶ ἠγριωμένον τὸ σῶμα καὶ τῷ προσώπῳ τὸ θηριῶδες ἐπανθοῦν καὶ τὸ τῆς τριχὸς κάλλιστα ὑποκρινομένην τὴν πέτραν καὶ πάντα πρὸς τὸν ἀληθῆ τύπον σπεύδοντα.

[12] ON THE STATUE OF A CENTAUR. On entering an awe-inspiring and ample shrine which had received into itself the most beautiful statues, I behold set up in the entrance-hall of the temple a centaur, not like a man, as Homer represents him, but like a "wooded mountain peak". The centaur was a man down as far as the flanks, then it ended in a horse's "four-legged stance." For both the horse and the man Nature had cut in two in the middle and joined into one body, omitting some members and cleverly adapting the rest to each other ; since of the human form it took away everything from the waist to the feet, while of the horse's body it cut off everything down to the navel and joined the rest to the human figure, as though the horse desired the head, the neck-sinews and that part of a man's baek which broadens as it descends, while the man sought the firm support of a horse from the navel to the feet. Such being the body, you could see also a spirit breathing upon the work of art, and the cavage type of the body, and the animal nature coming to light in the face ; and you could see the stone most beautifully interpreting the pair and every element striving to express the truth.