The Centaur Chiron and the young Achilles, Fresco from Herculaneum.

Every once in a while some artwork from the ancient world makes me stand in awe.  The lighting, the three dimensional nature of this painting, and the drama evident are as good as any modern work.  This particular work was preserved purely by chance by the eruption of Vesuvius, which makes one wonder what other masterpieces we will never know of due simply to the erasure of time.

Chiron was the son of the Titan Kronos and the Nymph Philyra.He was the first centaur. He was married to the Nymph Chariclo, and they had three daughters..

Apollo was a foster-father to Chiron, and taught him the arts of hunting, music, medicine, and prophecy through astrology. In time, Chiron became a mentor to many of the most famous heroes: Achilles, Ajax, Aeneas, Asklepios, Jason, and Perseus..

He was wounded by a poisoned arrow belonging to Heracles. The poison was incurable, and Chiron gave up his immortality rather than suffer eternal agony. The gods set him in the sky as the constellation Sagittarius,

Plutarch wrote that Chiron was worshipped in Magnesia, and others indicated that he was worshipped in the Classical period at Mount Pelion, Pharsalos, Poseidonia. and Thera. Archaeology has discovered artifacts related to healing at those sites, but little to document cult specifically offered to Chiron.