| Chiron | |
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Other Names |
Chiron, Cheiron, or Kheiron |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
In Greek mythology, Chiron was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for his youth-nurturing nature. His personal skills tend to match those of his foster father Apollo, who taught the young centaur the art of medicine, herbs, music, archery, hunting, gymnastics, and prophecy, and made him rise above his beastly nature. Chiron was known for his knowledge and skill with medicine, and thus was credited with the discovery of botany and pharmacy, the science of herbs and medicine.
Like satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being wild, lusty, overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, violent when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents. Chiron, by contrast, was intelligent, civilized, and kind, because he was not related directly to the other centaurs due to his parentage. He was the son of the Titan Cronus and the Oceanid Philyra, and thus possible brother to Dolops and Aphrus, the ancestor and eponym of the Aphroi, i.e. the native Africans.
Chiron lived predominantly on Mount Pelion; there he married the nymph Chariclo who bore him three daughters, Hippe (also known as Melanippe meaning the "black mare" or Euippe, "good mare"), Endeïs, and Ocyrhoe, and one son Carystus. A different source also stated that his wife was called Nais while a certain Aristaeus was called his son.
Like the other centaurs, Chiron was later expelled by the Lapithae from his home; but sacrifices were offered to him there by the Magnesians until a very late period, and the family of the Cheironidae in that neighborhood, who were distinguished for their knowledge of medicine, were regarded as his descendants.
According to an archaic myth, Chiron was sired by the Titan Cronus when he had taken the form of a horse and impregnated the nymph Philyra. In another version his mother was the nymph Naïs.
Chiron's lineage was different from other centaurs, who were born from Ixion, consigned to a fiery wheel, and Nephele ("cloud"), which in the Olympian telling Zeus invented to look like Hera.
Soon after giving birth to Chiron, Philyra abandoned her child out of shame and disgust. Chiron, effectively orphaned, was later found by the god Apollo, who took him under his wing and taught him the art of music, lyre, archery, medicine and prophecy. Apollo's twin sister, Artemis, trained him in archery and hunting. Chiron's uniquely peaceful character, kindness, and intelligence are attributed to Apollo and Artemis.
Some sources speculate that Chiron was originally a Thessalian god, later subsumed into the Greek pantheon as a centaur. A great healer, astrologer, and respected oracle, Chiron was said to be the first among centaurs and highly revered as a teacher and tutor. Among his pupils were many culture heroes: Asclepius, Aristaeus, Actaeon, Achilles, Jason, Medus.
There is also a persistent link with Peleus throughout Chiron's myth. This can be explained that the latter was the grandfather of Peleus through his daughter Endeis who married the king of Aegina, Aeacus. Chiron saved the life of Peleus when Acastus tried to kill him by taking his sword and leaving him out in the woods to be slaughtered by the centaurs. Chiron retrieved the sword for Peleus. Chiron then explained to Peleus how to capture the nymph Thetis, leading to their marriage.
Chiron is also connected with the story of the Argonauts, whom he received kindly when they came to his residence on their voyage, for many of the heroes were his friends and pupils.
His nobility is further reflected in the story of his death, as Prometheus sacrificed his life, allowing mankind to obtain the use of fire. As the son of Cronus he was immortal, so it was left to Heracles to arrange a bargain with Zeus to exchange Chiron's immortality for the life of Prometheus who had been chained to a rock where an eagle pecked out his regenerating liver for his transgressions. Chiron was pierced with an arrow belonging to Heracles that had been treated with the blood of the Hydra, or, in other versions, poison that Chiron had given to the hero when he had been under the honorable centaur's tutelage.
According to a Scholium on Theocritus, this had taken place during the visit of Heracles to the cave of Pholus on Mount Pelion in Thessaly during his fourth labour, defeating the Erymanthian Boar. While they were at supper, Heracles asked for some wine to accompany his meal. Pholus, who ate his food raw, was taken aback. He had been given a vessel of sacred wine by Dionysus sometime earlier, to be kept in trust by the centaurs until the right time for its opening. At Heracles' prompting, Pholus was forced to produce the vessel of sacred wine. The hero, gasping for wine, grabbed it from him and forced it open. Thereupon the vapors of the sacred wine wafted out of the cave and intoxicated the wild centaurs led by Nessus who had gathered outside. They attacked with stones and fir trees the cave which was located in the neighborhood of Malea. Heracles was forced to shoot many arrows (poisoned with the blood of the Hydra) to drive them back. During the assault, Chiron was hit in the thigh by one of the poisoned arrows. After the centaurs had fled, Pholus emerged from the cave to observe the destruction. Being of a philosophical frame of mind, he pulled one of the arrows from the body of a dead centaur and wondered how such a little thing as an arrow could have caused so much death and destruction. In that instant, he let slip the arrow from his hand and it dropped and hit him in the hoof, killing him instantly. This, however, is open to controversy, because Pholus shared the "civilized centaur" form with Chiron in some art images, and thus would have been immortal.
Ironically, Chiron, the master of the healing arts, could not heal himself and willingly gave up his immortality. For this reason, his half-brother Zeus took pity on him and thus placed him among the stars in the sky to be honored. The Greeks identified him as the constellation Centaurus.
In Ovid's poem Fasti, Ovid has the hero Hercules visiting Chiron's home on Pelion while the child Achilles is there. While Chiron is examining Hercules' weapons, one of the arrows dipped in Lernaean hydra venom falls on Chiron's left foot and poisons him: And while the old man fingered the shafts clotted with poison, one of the arrows fell out of the quiver and stuck in his left foot. Chiron groaned and drew the steel from his body.
Chiron then tries to use herbs to heal himself, but fails. After nine days with a weeping Achilles looking on, Chiron passes into the stars becoming a constellation.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Chiron from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- The Iliad
- Catalogues of Women Fragments
- The Homeric Hymns
- Titanomachia Fragments
- The Cypria Fragments
- Pindar, Odes
- Greek Lyric I Alcaeus, Fragments
- Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Fragments
- Euripides, Fragments
- Hippias Minor
- The Republic
- Apollodorus, The Library
- The Argonautica
- Callimachus, Hymns
- Lycophron, Alexandra
- The Library of History
- Description of Greece
- Metamorphoses
- On Animals
- Historical Miscellany
- Imagines
- New History
- Fall of Troy
- Dionysiaca
- The Rape of Helen
- Fabulae
- Astronomica
- Fasti
- Georgics
- Elegies
- Natural History
- Hercules Furens
- Troades
- Achilleid
- Silvae