The ancient myth of Hercules, Dejanira, and Nessus the Centaur is retold in this novel as a love triangle of sorts by Jonathan Nestus, a modern-day reincarnation of the Centaur reliving periodic episodes in the life and times of Nessus. The story of Nessus the Centaur is the poignant tale of a half-horse, half-human creature consumed with love for a beautiful, fully-human woman, with the menacing figure of brutal, murderous Hercules hovering in the background. Whether the reader is familiar with Greek mythology or not, this tragic and comic love story is an enthralling read. En route to the shocking end, the author, through his engaging character Jonathan Nestus, retells some of the Greek myths while solemnly insisting, with abundant pseudo-scientific reasoning. that the centaurs actually existed as half-horse, half-human beings—along with the satyrs, mermaids and other weird creatures of those times.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Henry Hollenbaugh is a native of California, and presently resides in Houston, Texas. He is also the author of Rio San Pedro, which was published by Alondra Press in 2007.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Nessus The Centaur,
By
This review is from: Nessus the Centaur (Paperback)
This is a most curious and entertaining novel, based on the ancient Greek myth of Hercules, Nessus and Dejanira. The old myth tells us only that Nessus the Centaur, while trying - quite futilely, no doubt - to rape Hercules' new wife Dejanira at a crossing of the Avenus River, was shot in the back by Hercules with a poisoned arrow, dipped in the blood of the Lernaean Hydra. As he lay dying, Nessus mopped up some of his blood with a shred of Dejanira's garment and gave it to her, telling her that if she rubbed it on a garment worn by Hercules it would be an infallible charm to keep him faithful to her forever. Dejanira apparently believed him, and according to the myth later smeared some of the poisoned blood on a tunic, which she sent to Hercules, who was away laying siege to Oechalia, for the purpose of laying his hands on a daughter of King Eurytus, Iole, whom he had won in an archery contest. When he put on the tunic, his flesh and bones immediately began to melt away in a fierce heat, and he died a miserable death. Henry Hollenbaugh retells this story in the words of his character, Jonathan Nestus, who is a modern-day reincarnation of the centaur, periodically reliving episodes in the life of Nessus. In Jonathan's story he constructs a background to explain the improbable events in the myth: Nessus had been a secret rival of Hercules for the love of Dejanira. He became a ferryman at the Avenus River in order to have a job with which he could support her, a rather forlorn hope, because he was half horse, of course. At the end of the story, Jonathan Nestus raises the question: Did Dejanira actually believe that Nessus was giving her a love charm, or did she know perfectly well what she was doing when she poisoned Hercules? Maybe she was secretly in love with Nessus, but concealed her feelings because, first of all, she couldn't marry a half horse-half human creature. And secondly, to spurn brutal murderous Hercules - the loathsome villain in this novel - for the sake of Nessus would have been a sentence of death for Nessus. All together, this is a fascinating novel, raising many intriguing possibilities. Where did Hercules obtain the poison with which he poisoned his arrows? His association with the witch Medea gives us a clue. Could this poison still be around, present in minute quantities in unknown products, and occasionally causing the phenomenon known as spontaneous human combustion? The novel, rich with the imagery of satyrs, mermaids, gods and goddesses strolling through its pages, also encloses two other stories: Jonathan's infatuation with a gold-digging woman in his modern incarnation, and a book he is writing to impress her, A Short History of the Centaurs, in which he retells many of the Greek myths.[...]
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nessus The Centaur, A review by Miriam Keef,
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This review is from: Nessus the Centaur (Paperback)
Anyone who has ever heard the expression "the shirt of Nessus" and wondered what it meant will find the answer in this tragic-comic novel. Henry Hollenbaugh, who appears to be well versed in Greek mythology, has crafted an engrossing story retelling the myth having to do with the death of Hercules, which was brought about by the centaur Nessus. The tale is narrated by the principal character, Jonathan Nestus, who is a modern-day reincarnation of the centaur. He alternates between the narration of episodes that he has relived in the life of Nessus, interspersed with chapters of a book he is writing called "A Short History of the Centaurs," in which he tries to convince the reader that the centaurs actually existed as half-horse, half-human creatures.
In his narration Jonathan Nestus/Nessus the Centaur, intersperses many asides and observations that explain the more improbable events in the myth. Such as, why did Dejanira think that his blood could constitute a love charm? Why was Nessus, a member of a tribe of creatures that never performed a lick of work, working as a ferryman at the Avenus River? How did the satyrs, the mermaids, the minotaur, and other like creatures come into existence? Whether Hollenbaugh has managed to craft a smoothly flowing novel or not is something that different readers may disagree upon. The Short History of the Centaurs perhaps interrupts the main body of the story at inconvenient times. But at any rate, this critic, although more or less aware of how the novel had to end, found it to be a spellbinding novel, with comic and poetic undertones. I would like to see other works by this new and unknown author.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nessus the Centaur, a comic-tragic retelling of the Greek myth,
By Jonathan E. Espeche (Los Angeles CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Nessus the Centaur (Paperback)
Nessus the Centaur is a comic-tragic retelling of the Greek myth which deals with the final episode in the Heracles cycle. Heracles, more commonly known by his Roman name of Hercules, is the despicable villain in this novel and Nessus, who brought about his death, usually dealt with as a cunning and deceitful villain, is the tragic hero. And when we look at the life and deeds of Hercules, Hollenbaugh probably has it right. He tells the tale with a modern slant in the words of his main character, Jonathan Nestus, a reincarnation of the centaur who relives the life of Nessus in dreams.
In his modern incarnation, Jonathan, a somewhat pathetic dreamer, is in love with a mercenary female named Daphne, whom he sometimes refers to as a cheap floozy, although he is trying to marry her, having deceived her into thinking he is rich. He fancies himself a writer, and to impress her is writing what he considers a scholarly work titled A Short History of the Centaurs, based on his other-life experiences. All of the events, creatures and episodes of Greek mythology were real and actually occurred, Jonathan Nestus claims. The centaurs, as half horse-half human creatures, were real too, of course, and in his Short History he adduces reasons and explanations of how this could be. The poison with which Hercules coats his arrows was not the blood of the Lernaean hydra, but was given to him by Medea; the golden apples of the Hesperides were real, growing on rocky promontories on the sea coast, extracting, across hundreds of years, the gold that is found in minute quantities in sea water. The satyrs were the product of a bestial act by a priest of Hermes and a goat named Amaltheia; and incidentally, the interbreeding of species has had as much effect on the origin of species as Evolution. And so forth. As for the culminating episode in the myth of Nessus, Hercules and Dejanira, the novel constructs an almost believable sequence of how it all happened. Nessus has had his run-ins with Hercules, and has ample reason to hate his guts. He has also been secretly in love with Dejanira, who is courted by Hercules, interpreting certain glances she had cast in his direction as a repressed love and admiration. He became a ferryman at the Avenus River, doggedly enduring the good-natured taunts and jeers of his fellow centaurs, in order to have an occupation whereby he could support her, once he had worked up the courage to ask Dejanira's father for her hand in marriage. But when he finally talks to her behind her father's house - while Hercules is engaged in a fight with Achelous over Dejanira in the front yard - pleading with her to climb on his back so he can carry her away "from all this ugliness," she tells him, "Nessus, ..... you know very well I could never go with you....Why, how can you even think of it? You - we're different!....How can I say it...? You are more of a horse than anything else!" Nessus prefers to believe that Dejanira was actually in love with him, and that her reaction was contrived to save his life, because she felt that to run away with him would mean his certain death at the hands of Hercules. At the end of the story, Jonathan Nestus raises the question: Did Dejanira really believe that Nessus was giving her a love charm, or did she know perfectly well what she was doing when she poisoned Hercules? When she secreted the poisoned blood in her tattered garments and murmured her final inaudible words to Nessus while Hercules sauntered leisurely up to watch Nessus die, maybe she was saying, "Nessus, I love you. I will avenge your death." The author, perhaps unfairly, leaves the reader to divine the answer.
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