In ancient Greece there were many strange creatures: nymphs, dryads, fauns, and satyrs, as well as centaurs. They were a wild bunch, well known for their noisy parties, and for singing, dancing, and merry-making at all hours of the day and night.

Chiron is called a centaur because he is born half man and half horse. His form came about because his father, Chronus, had mated with his mother, Philyra, in the shape of a horse. Chiron was born half immortal. Unlike most centaurs who were mean and ruthless towards humans, Chiron was always kind and gentle towards them. He was famous for his wisdom and knowledge of music, medicine and ethics. He was taught by Apollo, god of the sun, and Artemis, goddess of the moon, and from them learned both wisdom and spirituality. He dwelt in a cave high up the rocky, snowy sides of Mount Pelion. He was the oldest and wisest of all the centaurs, with great strength in his horse part, while his white-bearded head was rich with knoledge and experience. In fact, he was so famous that the sons of many kings and heroes, such as Herakles, came to him for their education. Chiron gave them lessons in duty; he taught them to fear the gods, to respect old age, and to stand by one another in pain and hardship.

One day Herakles came to Chiron's cave to talk to him and accidentally grazed him with an arrow dipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra that Herakles had killed. Being half human Chiron was left to suffer terrible pain from the deadly arrow but because of his divinity he could not die. Because of this Chiron became a very great healer, learning from experimenting with herbs and medicines to find an antidote to the poison. The idea of surgery came about, according to the story, when Chiron replaced a damaged bone in Achilles' ankle with a section from the ankle of a giant. He also learned great compassion for the pain of others, having experienced constant pain himself. He managed to cure many people, but never himself. Eventually Zeus felt so sorry for him that he allowed Chiron to change places with Prometheous, who was the creator of the human race.

Prometheous had made the first men and women out of the red soil of Earth moistened with his tears, and he loved his creation dearly. Then Prometheus stole fire from the gods. This ment that the human race would be more like the gods and less like animals. Zeus was very angry so he sentenced Prometheus to a terrible punishment, from which he could be released only if another immortal was prepared to give up everlasting life and offer it to Prometheus. Chiron was so tired of living in constant pain that he was greatful for the opportunity to die and so end his anguish. He gladly gave his immortality to Prometheus and died in his place. Chiron was placed among the constellations as Sagittarius, the Archer. So when you look up at the night sky, you will see Chiron.