Pirithous, Wedding of P. to Hippodamia.
Wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia. The Lapith king Pirithous took as his wife Hippodamia, the daughter of Butes. Among the guests at the wedding feast were the centaurs, a neighboring tribe. Unaccustomed to wine, they became intoxicated. Eurytion (Eurytus) and other centaurs tried to carry off Hippodamia and the other women. A battle ensued, in which the Lapiths eventually triumphed, assisted by Pirithous’s friend Theseus and perhaps by Heracles. According to some legends, the fight broke out because Ares (Mars) was not invited to the wedding.
      The fracas between the Lapiths and centaurs at the wedding feast was frequently treated in Archaic and Classical art. It was the theme of the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia and the metopes on the south side of the Parthenon in Athens.