https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2021/2/15/what-was-taraxippus-that-made-the-ancient-greeks-tremble-with-fearOur ancestors had a word specifically dedicated to one of their worst nightmares.
Taraxippus was the name of the demon that terrified the horses at the horse races, a tormented soul that haunted the horse races of Greece and could only be calmed with sacrifice.
Taraxippus was basically a multitude of demons that lurked the racetracks and caused horses to faint, resulting in chariot crashes and injuries or the death of chariots.
Taraxippus was no small thing, which, as Pausanias tells us, was more of an adjective attributed to the demons of the Hippodrome than a self-existent being. The demon wreaked havoc and destruction at the horse races and had to be made to leave the horses and their riders alone.
Each city-state had its own Taraxippus, but the most famous was in Olympia. He would set them up in the curves of the racecourse and when the horses passed he would come out and frighten them. Invisible of course on the chariots, all you could see of him were the terrible consequences of his actions.
This is why the ancient Greeks made sure to erect altars in the curves of the horse races and the riders would offer propitiatory sacrifices in his name before the races, as Pausanias writes.
0 Comments