- The ancient Greeks called this constellation Θηρίον (Therion), representing an unspecified wild animal, while the Romans called it Bestia, the beast. It was visualized as impaled on a long pole called a thyrsus, held by the adjoining constellation of Centaurus, the centaur. Consequently, the centaur and the animal were often regarded as a combined figure, although Ptolemy listed the animal as a separate constellation in the Almagest.