the teaching role often attributed to the half-man, half-horse figure of the centaur in mythology does not appear in mayo's stories; the role of the warrior centaurs does appear, mostly in the stories “the centaur of the north” and “conquistador.” however, the figure of the centaur does body forth the idea of beings whose two heritages pull them in different directions, and in the idea of a mythology that still has the power to move us today.