Chiron the Centaur was very famous for his knowledge of simples, which
he learned on Mount Pelion when hunting with Diana. The Centaury owes
its name to him, either because he used it as a remedy or because
it was applied to his wound. His great merit was that he taught his
knowledge of medicines to Æsculapius, to Hercules, to Achilles, and to
various other Greek heroes. In the Iliad Homer represents Eurypylus
wounded by an arrow asking Patroclus
With lukewarm water wash the gore away
With healing balms the raging smart allay
Such as sage Chiron, sire of pharmacy,
Once taught Achilles, and Achilles thee.
(_Il._, Bk. XI., Pope’s Translation.)
Chiron was shot in the foot by Hercules by an arrow which had been
dipped in the blood of the Hydra of Lerna, and the wound caused intense
agony. One fable says that Chiron healed this wound by applying to it
the herb which consequently bore the name of Centaury; but the more
usual version is that his grief at being immortal was so keen that
Hercules induced Jupiter to transfer that immortality to Prometheus,
and that Chiron was placed in the sky and forms the constellation
of Sagittarius. The Centaurs were a wild race inhabiting Thessaly.
Probably they were skilful horse tamers and riders, and from this may
have grown the fable of their form.
[Illustration: CHIRON THE CENTAUR.]