The wisest of the centaurs, teacher of Achilles, Jason and Asclepius.
Strength 6/10 · Wisdom 10/10 · Courage 6/10 · Divinity 7/10 · Fame 7/10
The story
Unlike the wild centaurs, Chiron was wise, gentle and immortal, a son of Cronus. He lived in a cave on Mount Pelion and taught medicine, music and hunting to heroes including Achilles, Jason and Asclepius.
How it ends
Accidentally wounded by one of Heracles‘ poisoned arrows, he could not heal or die, so he gave up his immortality, some say to free Prometheus, and became the constellation Sagittarius or Centaurus.
Still with us today
He is a model of the wise teacher, and an asteroid-sized body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus is named after him.
Family
Appears in
Jason and the Argonauts, The Trojan War, Heracles
Read about them in the Library
Ancient sources
- Homer, Iliad
- Pindar, Odes
- Apollodorus, The Library
In the sky and in space
- ConstellationCentaurus
The centaur, often said to be wise Chiron. It holds Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our Sun, but it is too far south to see from Britain.
- ConstellationSagittarius
The centaur archer. Some ancient writers said it was Chiron. The centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, lies in this direction.
- AsteroidsThe centaurs
A group of icy worlds between Jupiter and Neptune, named after centaurs. The first found, in 1977, was named Chiron. Another, Chariklo, named after Chiron's wife, was the first small world found to have rings.