In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; )[Compare the Dactyls, "fingers", ancient masters of the art of metallurgy and magical healers.] was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".[Homer, Iliad 11.831]
Biography
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.
[Xenophon, Cynegeticus 1; Philostratus the Athenian, Heroicus 9, Icon. 2.2; Pindar, Pythian Odes 9.65] 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.
[Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 7.56.3]
Like , 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[Homer, Iliad 11.831] due to his parentage. He was the son of the Titan Cronus and the Oceanid Philyra,[Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.1235 citing Pherecydes; Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 7.56.3; Hyginus, De astronomia 2.38.1 ff.] and thus possible brother to Dolops[Hyginus, Fabulae Preface] and Aphrus, the ancestor and eponym of the Aphroi, i.e. the native Africans.[Suda, Suda Encyclopedia s.v. Aphroi][Greek lyric: Bacchylides, (from on Apollonius of Rhodes)]
Like the other centaurs, Chiron was later expelled by the Lapiths 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 neighbourhood, who were distinguished for their knowledge of medicine, were regarded as his descendants.[Plutarch, Symposiacs 3.1; Müller, Orchom. p. 249]
Physical appearance
Although a
centaur, Chiron's physical appearance often differs somewhat from other centaurs, demonstrating his status and heritage. In traditional Greek representations of Chiron his front legs are human, rather than equine. This is in contrast to the traditional representation of centaurs, which have the entire lower body of a horse.
This clearly sets Chiron apart from the other centaurs, making him easily identifiable. This difference may also have highlighted Chiron's unique lineage, being the son of
Cronus. Chiron is often depicted carrying a branch with dead hares he has caught hanging from it. Chiron is also often depicted wearing clothes, demonstrating he is more civilised and unlike a normal centaur (the only other occasional exceptions to this rule are the centaurs Nessus and Pholus).
The Education of Achilles wall painting, from the basilica in Herculaneum (top right), is one of the most common Roman depictions of Chiron, as he teaches Achilles the lyre. In this version we see Chiron with a fully equine lower body, in contrast to the ancient Greek representations. In addition to this reconfiguration, Chiron's appearance is further altered with his ears. Whereas previously human, Chiron's ears now match those of a satyr; folded over at the top. This rendering creates a more bestial version of Chiron, much more akin to a standard centaur. It may be possible that due to the rise of written sources, Roman artists were inspired by written descriptions of Chiron; simply using the word centaur, rather than having available traditional visual representations. This may, then, not be a deliberate reworking of the Chiron myth on the part of the Romans, but simply a lost nuance of the character in its migration from Greece to Rome. As F. Kelsey writes; "The Chiron of our painting, ... has a body like that of the other centaurs, but the prominence of the human element in his nature is no less marked; he is the wise and gentle teacher, the instructor of an art".
Mythology
Early years
to an archaic myth,
[A quote from the lost Titanomachia, provided as a scholium on Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica 1.554 ( on-line quote); Apollodorus, 1.8-9, may have drawn upon the same source.] Chiron was sired by the Titan
Cronus when he had taken the form of a
horse[Compare the stallion-Poseidon who sired the steed Arion upon Demeter.] and impregnated the
nymph Philyra.
[Apollodorus, 1.2.4] In another version his mother was the nymph Naïs.
[Xenophon, On Hunting 1]
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 Thessaly god, later subsumed into the Greece 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 : Asclepius,
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 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.[Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.554; Orphic Argonautica 375 ff.]
Students
Chiron was a renowned mentor, and brought up some future
such as:
-
Achilles – The son of the Argonauts Peleus and the Nereids Thetis. Peleus had a friendly relationship with Chiron who had already saved him from Acastus and a band of murderous centaurs,
-
Aristaeus – Although his mother Cyrene lived in Ancient Libya, Aristaeus' father Apollo brought him on Mount Pelion to be reared by Chiron. Aristaeus would later become in his life a god of certain rustic arts such as beekeeping and cheesemaking. Moreover, he is the protagonist of a creation myth regarding the Etesian.
-
Actaeon – The son of Autonoë and Aristeus (an aforementioned student of Chiron). He became an excellent hunter thanks to the centaur's lessons. In his adulthood as he was hunting in the woods, he saw the virgin goddess Artemis bathing. She punished Actaeon for seeing her naked body by turning him into a Deer. His did not recognize him and devoured him. Ignorant of what they had done, the hunting dogs came to the cave of Chiron seeking their master and the Centaur fashioned an image of Actaeon in order to soothe their grief.
-
Asclepius – The Greek God of Doctors. Artemis killed Asclepius' mother Coronis after her lover Apollo discovered she was cheating on him. But Coronis had conceived a son to him and before her body had been consumed by the funerary pyre he saved the child (Asclepius) and brought him to Chiron, who reared him and taught him the art of healing. When Chiron's daughter Ocyrhoe saw him, she prophesied his destiny and death. Because of this, Zeus turned her into a mare. In fact, Asclepius would later die because of his hubris: he had become such a skilled medic he could resurrect the dead and Zeus would end up killing him for this after getting a complaint from Hades. Though Zeus would later revive him as a God to avoid any feuds with Apollo.
-
Jason – The leader of the Argonauts was, in some versions, raised by Chiron. Jason's father Aeson had been locked up by his brother Pelias, yet he managed to conceive a son with a woman named Alcimede. When Alcimede delivered Jason, she pretended he was a stillborn to escape Pelias' notice and then gave him to Chiron. Jason's son Medus will also become one of the centaur's students.
-
Medus – Alternatively called Medeus or Polyxenus, his mother was Medea, but accounts differ about his father, who may be either Jason, an Asian king, or Aegeus.
-
Patroclus
According to Ptolemy Hephaestion (probably the same as Ptolemaeus Chennus), a writer and playwright whose works are now lost, Chiron was also the mentor of the god Dionysus (who became the centaur's eromenos, and learned from him chants and dances) and of a youth named Cocytus; the latter supposedly cured Adonis when he was wounded by a wild boar using the medical techniques learned from his teacher.
Death
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.
[Apollodorus, 2.5.4] Chiron was pierced with an arrow belonging to Heracles that had been treated with the blood of the
Lernaean 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,
[Theocritus, 7.149] 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 neighbourhood of
Cape Malea. Heracles was forced to shoot many arrows (poisoned with the blood of the
Lernaean 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.[Hyginus, De astronomia 2.38.1 ff]
In Ovid's poem Fasti, Ovid has the hero Hercules visiting Chiron's home on Pelion while the child Achilles is there.[Ovid, Fasti 5.391–396] 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.
[Ovid, Fasti 5.397–398]
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.
[Ovid, Fasti 5.400–414]
The Precepts of Chiron
A
Didacticism,
Precepts of Chiron, has been lost. However, fragments in heroic
that survive in quotations are considered to belong to it.
The common thread in the fragments, which may reflect in some degree the Acharnian image of Chiron and his teaching, is that it is expository rather than narrative, and suggests that, rather than recounting the inspiring events of archaic times as men like Nestor
[In both Iliad and Odyssey.] or Glaucus
[Homer, Iliad 6.155–203] might do, Chiron taught the primeval ways of mankind, the gods and nature, beginning with the caution "First, whenever you come to your house, offer good sacrifices to the eternal gods".
Statius' Achilleid
The Achilleid was to be an epic poem on the life of
Achilles. However, its author,
Statius, died during the writing of the second book late in the first century AD during the reign of the Emperor
Domitian.
The Achilleid shows the relationship between Chiron and his charge, Achilles. During Book One, the close relationship between Chiron and Achilles is made clear when
Thetis spends the evening with them in Chiron's cave on Mount
Pelion, before leaving with Achilles. Chiron is shown in a paternal capacity, rather than that of merely a teacher, and is depicted as far from animal.
Night draws to slumber. The huge Centaur collapses on stone and Achilles fondly twines himself about his shoulders, though his mother is there, preferring the familiar bosom. (1.195–97).
Here, Statius is showing a loving relationship between the two characters, which the traditional view of Chiron never explored. Later, when describing what he ate when growing up, Achilles refers to Chiron as a parent;
"thus that father of mine used to feed me" (2.102), the Latin used here is 'pater' so we may judge this an accurate translation. This further demonstrates the nature of the loving relationship between Chiron and Achilles. Statius here may be continuing a theme started by
Ovid in
Fasti several years earlier.
In Fasti, on Chiron's death, Achilles says "'Live, I beg you; don't leave me, dear father pater!'"(5.412), this would suggest that in Rome the reconfiguration of Chiron's myth was as a loving and loved foster parent, rather than simply teacher. Chiron's relationship with his pupil is used to demonstrate a Roman longing for the father-son relationship.
In addition to Chiron's loving characteristics developed in Book One, Book Two of The Achilleid has Achilles describe many tasks Chiron would make him perform during his heroic education, including standing in fast flowing rivers;
I stood, but the angry river and the mist of his broad rush took me back. He bore down on me with savage threats and scolded to shame me. I did not leave till ordered (2.146–150).
There is a clear contrast here in the hardship and insults Chiron is directing at his pupil compared to his previous kindness. However, this duality can be seen as a demonstration of a traditional Roman education, especially a noble one; learning both military and refined arts. Centaurs in antiquity were often remembered for their battle with the
Lapiths. Statius deliberately disassociates Chiron from this story with his description of Chiron's cave on Pelion,
Here are no darts that have tasted human blood, no ash trees fractured in festive combats, nor mixing bowls shattered upon kindred foes (1.111–15).
Instead of combat, the emphasis is that Chiron's weapons are only used for hunting and there are no signs of savage behaviour. In addition to Achilles' descriptions of the physical lessons Chiron gives him he also refers to a more cultured education,
He fixed in my mind the precepts of sacred justice (2.163–4).
Statius creates an image of Chiron that is not only a loving father, but a strict and wise teacher, disassociated with the bestial aspects of centaurs.
Gallery
File:Chiron and Achilles - tapestry.jpg| Chiron and Achilles, tapestry by Rubens (17th century)
File:Giovanni Battista Cipriani - Chiron Instructing Achilles in the Bow.jpg| Chiron Instructing Achilles in the Bow by Giovanni Battista Cipriani (circa 1776)
File:Achilles Chiron sarcophagus Terme.jpg| Achilles and Chiron, detail from a sarcophagus from the Via Casilina in Torraccia. (3rd century CE)
File:Donato Creti - Achilles Handing over to Chiron - WGA05776.jpg| Achilles Handing over to Chiron by Donato Creti
File:Pompeo Batoni - Achilles and the Centaur Chiron - WGA1498.jpg| Achilles and Chiron by Puget
File:Puget-Achille-Chiron-Marseille.jpg| The Education of Achilles by Chiron by Pierre Paul Puget (circa 1690)
File:The Centaur Chiron Teaching Geography to the Young Achilles LACMA 57.5.8.jpg| The Centaur Chiron Teaching Geography to the Young Achilles
File:The Education of Achilles, by James Barry.jpg| The Education of Achilles by James Barry
File:The Education of Achilles 1862 Delacroix.jpg| The Education of Achilles by Eugène Delacroix (circa 1862)
File:Pompeo Batoni - Teti richiama Achille dal Centauro Chirone (1770).jpg| Thetis takes Achilles from the Centaur Chiron by Pompeo Batoni (1770)
File:Giovanni Battista Cipriani - Achilles learns the Javelin.jpg| Achilles learns the Javelin by Giovanni Battista Cipriani (Circa 1776)
File:The golden fleece and the heroes who lived before Achilles (1921) (14763707131).jpg| Peleus entrusting his son Achilles to Chiron
File:Sommer, Giorgio (1834-1914) & Behles, Edmund (1841-1924) - n. 2399 - Disegno tratto da un affresco pompeiano.jpg| Chiron and Achilles by Giorgio Sommer & Edmond Behles (early 20th c.)
File:Thétis et Achille chez Chiron 09764 Achille et les filles de Lycomède.jpg| Thétis et Achille chez Chiron
File:Johann Balthasar Probst 005.jpg| Thetis gives Achilles into the care of Chiron by Johann Balthasar Probst (17th/18th century)
File:Bénigne Gagneraux - L'éducation d'Achille (1785).jpg| The Education of Achilles by Bénigne Gagneraux (1785)
File:Chiron and Achilles. Lithograph after J.B. Regnault. Wellcome V0035831.jpg|Jean-Baptiste Regnault: The Education of Achilles (1782). Lithograph copy (1798)
File:The Education of Achilles by Auguste-Clément Chrétien.jpg| The Education of Achilles by Auguste-Clément Chrétien (1861)
File:Rinaldo rinaldi, chirone insegna ad achille a suonare la cetra, 1817.JPG| Chirone insegna ad Achille a suonare la cetra by Rinaldo Rinaldi (1817)
File:Jason and His Teacher by Maxfield Parrish, 1909.jpg| Jason and His Teacher by Maxfield Parrish (1909)
File:Chiron (centaur).jpg|Statue of Chiron in Volos, Greece
See also
-
Chyron, a synonym for lower third television graphics
-
Chyron Corporation, named in reference to Chiron
-
2060 Chiron, a small Solar System body named after Chiron
Citations
Sources
-
Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
-
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
-
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
-
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
-
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
-
Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
-
Homer, Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Philostratus , Heroica, translation by Jennifer K. Berenson Maclean and Ellen Bradshaw Aitken, Flavius Philostratus: On Heroes, WGRW 3 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002), XX. Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Lucius Flavius Philostratus, Flavii Philostrati Opera. Vol 2. Carl Ludwig Kayser. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1871. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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The Orphic Argonautica, translated by Jason Colavito. Copyright 2011. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
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Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pindar, Odes translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff. Lipsiae. Teubner. 1906. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Ovid, Fasti translated by James G. Frazer. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti. Sir James George Frazer. London; Cambridge, MA. William Heinemann Ltd.; Harvard University Press. 1933. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Suda, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
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Theocritus, Idylls from The Greek Bucolic Poets translated by Edmonds, J M. Loeb Classical Library Volume 28. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1912. Online version at theoi.com
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Theocritus, Idylls edited by R. J. Cholmeley, M.A. London. George Bell & Sons. 1901. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. s.v. Cheiron. London (1848)
External links
