Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today's video, we're going to discuss Chiron.

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Centaurs are mythical half-man, half-horse amalgamations. From the waist down their bodies are that of a horse, and their torso, arms, and head are that of a man; and in some less conventional portrayals, so too were the fronts of their legs. They live in mountains and forests, preferring by far the wild and rugged terrain of unfettered nature over so called civilized places where masonry and carpentry replace tree and crag. They subsist exclusively on raw food, especially raw meat, and they become entirely unmanageable when they indulge in alcohol, as well see.

Chiron is a centaur, but as reckoned compared to his own species, he's quite the aberration. Generally speaking, centaurs, in Greek mythology, are raucous, rowdy, and prone to revelry. Yes, they have a passion for alcohol and boisterous feasting, but more disruptive is the tendency for those activities to devolve into raiding, marauding, and the abducting of comely women. There are several stories in which drunk and disorderly centaurs must be fought off by heroes, like at Pirithous wedding, where a group of centaurs were in attendance. At first, everything went as planned. Food and wine flowed, and there was much carousing and merriment; but when the centaurs became intoxicated, the celebration took an unhappy turn. They began seizing women. One galloped away with the bride in hand, and Theseus later killed him. A fierce battle ensued in which the centaurs were beaten, and this, in turn, fomented a larger-scale conflict whereby all of the centaurs were forced out of Thessaly.

Juxtaposed with that image is Chiron: healer, sage, man of compassion and culture, and trainer of heroes. He was a prodigious healer, by some accounts the first to incorporate the use of herbs in medicine. Additionally, he was a singular talent in a broad array of other disciplines, like martial arts, ethics, hunting, acrobatics, music, and prophecy

Chiron: the Immortal Centaur Who Begged for Death but Couldn't Die 10:45 Share

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Chiron: the Immortal Centaur Who Begged for Death but Couldn't Die