In Greek mythology, Pholus was a wise and hospitable centaur, a friend of Heracles who lived in a cave in the mountains of the Peloponnese. Unlike the typical wild, bestial centaurs descended from Centaurus, Pholus — like Chiron — was civilized in manner, a trait the mythographer Apollodorus traced to his unusual parentage as a son of Silenus and one of the Meliae (ash-tree nymphs). He is best known for entertaining Heracles during the quest for the Erymanthian Boar, an encounter that provoked the battle of the centaurs and ultimately caused his own death by one of Heracles' poisoned arrows.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Pholus (mythology)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Biography
Pholus differed sharply from the typical centaurs of myth. Whereas most centaurs were bestial and brutal descendants of Centaurus, Pholus — like the famous Chiron — was distinguished by his civilized and gentle behavior.
He was sometimes shown in art as a fully human-bodied figure with the horse's parts attached at the rear, the same 'human-centaur' form occasionally given to Chiron, setting him apart from the other centaurs who were usually depicted as human only down to the waist.
According to the mythographer Apollodorus, his parents were Silenus and one of the Meliae (the ash-tree nymphs). This descent helped explain his unusual civility, though it did not make him immortal: unlike Chiron, Pholus was a mortal centaur.
II.Encounters with Heracles
Heracles visited the cave of Pholus near the completion of his fourth Labor, the capture of the Erymanthian Boar. When Heracles drank Pholus's wine, the neighboring centaurs caught its scent and, driven characteristically mad, charged into the cave.
Heracles killed most of the attacking centaurs; the survivors fled to Cape Maleas, where Chiron was accidentally wounded by one of Heracles' venomous arrows, which had been poisoned with the blood of the Lernaean Hydra.
Back in his own cave, Pholus accidentally wounded himself with one of the venomous arrows — either while marveling that so small a thing could kill such large creatures, or while preparing to bury the dead centaurs. He died from the extraordinary virulence of the poison.
III.Namesake
The city of Pholoe in ancient Arcadia was named after him.