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Chiron
Other Centaurs were the offspring of a liaison between the lecherous Thessalian king Ixion and a cloud transformed by Zeus into a duplicate of his wife Hera as a trick, and were generally a wild, unruly, and savage race, sometimes called the Ixionidae. By contrast, the much older Chiron was gentle, wise, and noble, and being of divine birth, he was also immortal, while the Ixionidae could be slain by ordinary means. Still, Chiron lived among the other Centaurs, and even succeeded in civilizing a few of them, including Pholus, a friend of Hercules. Because he was a renowned healer, rivaling even Apollo in skill, some speculate that he may originally have been a god of healing, perhaps introduced into Greece by the Scythians, whose horseback riding may have also inspired myths about the Centaurs, as the earliest inhabitants of Greece had no knowledge of the horse. Chiron was instructed by Apollo and Artemis in the skills of medicine, music, and hunting. He in turn tutored the various sons of gods and mortals at his cave. Nearly every major hero in Greek myth was a student of Chiron's, including Theseus, the twins Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces), Peleus and his son Achilles, Nestor, Odysseus, Actaeon, Diomedes, and Jason (or Iason), whom Chiron also helped in mapping out the voyage of the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. Though his father was Apollo, the divine physician Asclepius learned all his medical skills from Chiron. Asclepius' sons Machaon and Podalirius in turn used these same skills while tending the wounded during the Trojan War. Apollo himself once consulted Chiron to learn the identity of the fierce and brave huntress Cyrene and how best to woo her. Cyrene's son through Apollo, Aristaeus, was another student of Chiron's, who founded the North African kingdom of Cyrenaica and is credited with the invention of beekeeping. Chiron was also a great healer in his own right, and many came to his cave for assistance. When his friend Phoenix was blinded by his own father because of a concubine's false charges of assault, Peleus brought him to Chiron, who restored his sight. Phoenix also became a student of Chiron, and used the wisdom he learned to serve as Achilles' advisor at Troy, though Achilles did not always heed his advice, a fault which eventually proved fatal. In keeping with the Greek custom of paiderastia, Chiron instructed his youthful charges not only in the arts of learning, soldiery, and good citizenship, but also in the ways of love between men. But also in keeping with this tradition, Chiron was not exclusively homosexual, having taken for a wife the wood nymph Chariclo (or Chariklo), who bore him a daughter named Ocyrhoe, skilled in prophecy. Chiron's most difficult student proved to be the hot-tempered Hercules, who enjoyed hunting and athletics but had neither interest in nor patience with the arts or sciences. Still, Hercules and Chiron remained close friends, though Hercules would ultimately prove the source of Chiron's destruction, as foreseen by Ocyrhoe. The vision she related that her father would one day be forced to relinquish his immortality and die as mortals did filled her with so much grief and fear that Apollo in pity turned her into a mare. Ocyrhoe's prophecy began to come true when Hercules was in the area visiting Pholus. When Pholus served Hercules wine which had been given to the Centaurs by Dionysius and was considered by them to be their exclusive communal property, the other Centaurs attacked Hercules. Hercules began firing volleys of arrows at the Centaurs, who fled into Chiron's cave. Blinded by anger, Hercules continued to fire his arrows into the cave, and struck Chiron with one. When Pholus pulled the arrow from Chiron, he dropped it, and the tip pierced the soft flesh just above one of Pholus' hooves. Realizing what he had done, Hercules immediately ceased his attack and rushed to help his two friends. Chiron instructed Hercules on how to treat the wounds, but to no avail, for the arrow had been dipped in the blood of the monstrous Hydra, a deadly and painful poison for which there was no cure. Pholus died in agony, and Chiron, because he could not die, was condemned to remain in agony forever. Unable to undo the harm he had inflicted, and fearing reprisals from the other Centaurs, Hercules left Chiron and proceeded on his journey to capture the Erymanthian Boar, one of the labors assigned to him by King Eurystheus. While on his quest for the boar, Hercules found Prometheus, the Titan who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to mortals. For this crime, Zeus had ordered Prometheus chained to one of the Caucasus Mountains, where each day an eagle would eat away the Titan's liver, which would grow back that night to be eaten again the following day. Taking pity on Prometheus, Hercules broke the chains and released him. Zeus had Prometheus brought back to Olympus, but when the Titan still refused to repent his actions and continued to defy Zeus, he was condemned to death. Because he was in agony, and also because he felt it unjust to execute Prometheus for performing an act of compassion for humanity, Chiron interceded on Prometheus' behalf and asked that Zeus remove his own immortality and kill him in Prometheus' place. Moved by the Centaur's nobility, Zeus granted his request, striking him dead and pardoning Prometheus. As a tribute to his great wisdom and goodness, Zeus set Chiron up among the heavens as the constellation Sagittarius (other myths say Centaurus). Chiron's name is etymologically related to the Greek word for hand, chiro, an acknowledgment of his original association with healing, which in it's most basic form involves the laying on of hands. Chiron has thus lent his name to the alternative medical system of chiropractics, as well as the more conventional chiropody. His association with wisdom has also contributed to the naming of certain schools of palmistry as chirogonomy and chiromancy. More recently, Chiron's name has been applied to the first of a hitherto unknown class of astronomical bodies. In 1977, during a routine survey of the outer solar system, an object was spotted in photographic plates, moving within the orbits of Uranus and Saturn. Initially designated "Object Kowal" in honor of its discoverer, it was soon renamed Chiron, and at first hailed as a new planet. However, it's small size, between 148 and 208 km, caused many astronomers to reclassify it as an asteroid, even though its uniform shape and brightness were unusual for an asteroid. The matter became more confused when later studies revealed that Chiron had an icy layer or coma like an comet, although it did not have a cometary tail, moved much more slowly than a comet, and came no closer to the sun than just within the orbit of Saturn. Further, more objects like Chiron were being discovered. Eventually, most in the astronomy field conceded that a new class of planetary bodies had to be created. Chiron thus became the first of the Centaurs, slow moving objects which bear the characteristics of planets, asteroids, and comets. At present, some thirty-eight Centaurs are known to be moving through this region of space, with several named after other Centaurs in Greek myth, including Pholus. One, which follows Chiron very closely in its circuit around the sun, is named Chariclo, after Chiron's wife. Some astrologers have begun including the movements of Chiron and the other Centaurs in their forecasts, claiming that Chiron's position influences advancements in science, especially astronomy and medicine, and forces people to focus on problems associated with whatever sign it happens to be passing through.
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