Chiron’s Family Tree

About Chiron →

Family

• Achilles(child),Actaeon(child),Aristaeus(child),Asclepius(child),Jason(child),Patroclus(child),Peleus(child)— Adopted

  On Mount Pelion, Chiron raised a generation of Greek heroes — Achilles, Asclepius, Jason, Patroclus, Peleus, Actaeon, and Aristaeus — teaching each according to their destiny: medicine, warfare, hunting, and the arts.

• Chariclo(spouse),Ocyrhoe(child)— Marriage

  Chiron married the nymph Chariclo, who bore him the prophetic daughter Ocyrhoe on Mount Pelion.

• Kronos(parent),Philyra(parent)— Consort

  Kronos coupled with the Oceanid Philyra while transformed as a stallion, conceiving Chiron. Unlike other centaurs, Chiron inherited divine wisdom from his Titanic parentage.

Member of

• Centaurs

  The Centaurs, the wild horse-men of Thessaly, counted among their notable members the wise Chiron, the hospitable Pholus, and the ferryman Nessus.

Associated with

• Aeson

  Aeson secretly sent his infant son Jason to Mount Pelion to be raised by Chiron, protecting the boy from the usurper Pelias. Chiron educated Jason until he was old enough to reclaim his father's throne.

• Apollo

  Apollo brought the infant Asclepius to Chiron after rescuing him from the funeral pyre of Coronis, entrusting the centaur with the child's education in medicine.

• Artemis

  Chiron taught Artemis the art of hunting in some traditions, particularly in Callimachus's Hymn to Artemis where the young goddess visits his cave.

• Cyrene

  In Pindar's Pythian 9, Chiron prophesied to Apollo about his union with Cyrene, foretelling that she would bear a son and become queen of a city in Libya.

• Heracles

  During Heracles' battle with centaurs at Pholus's cave, a Hydra-poisoned arrow struck Chiron. The wound was incurable but Chiron, being immortal, could not die from the agony.

• Ocyrhoe

  Ocyrhoe prophesied her father Chiron's fate — that he would suffer an incurable wound and wish for death, eventually surrendering his immortality. Chiron called to Apollo for help as the gods transformed his daughter into a mare.

• Peleus

  Chiron healed Peleus after Acastus abandoned him on Mount Pelion without weapons, returning to him the sword Acastus had hidden.

• Philyra

  Philyra was transformed into a linden tree after giving birth to Chiron, horrified by her son's hybrid form. The gods granted her metamorphosis out of pity.

• Pholus

  Pholus and Chiron were the only two civilized centaurs, both distinct from the savage Ixion-born herd. Both died from accidental wounds inflicted by Heracles' Hydra-poisoned arrows during the same centaur battle.

• Prometheus

  Chiron surrendered his immortality so Prometheus could be freed from his chains on the Caucasus. Zeus permitted the exchange, ending Chiron's agony from the Hydra's venom.

• Thetis

  Thetis entrusted her son Achilles to Chiron on Mount Pelion. The centaur fed the boy on the marrow of lions and taught him the arts of war, medicine, and music.

• Zeus

  Zeus honored Chiron after his death by placing him among the stars as the constellation Centaurus, commemorating the wisest of centaurs.