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Chiron and Achilles

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This is part 3 of 10 in my Greek Mythology series. Chiron, the Centaur, was an immortal who was known for healing, education, and astrology among other things. Unlike other centaurs (wild drunken horse-men), he was wise and highly respected. I read that he was responsible for teaching many famous legends such as Heracles (Hercules), Achilles, and Jason and the Argonauts.

The story of his death is confusing and has multiple versions. Basically, Heracles shot him with an arrow which had poison from a Hydra's blood (Hydra is a many headed snake-monster). In one version of the myth Heracles did this on purpose, in another version it was an accident, but regardless, the story goes that although Chiron was immortal there was no cure for the poison and so Chiron had to ask for his immortality to be denounced to end his suffering. I guess Zeus was responsible for that, because Zeus then turned Chiron into the constellation we now know as Sagittarius.

The most famous historical paintings and images of Chiron are often of Chiron teaching Achilles to play the Lyre, or teaching him archery.

And so... with all of that... perhaps you can see some of the meaning behind my composition :)

I have some video on the early drawing and painting phase, although I think I botched the story up a lot in the video: youtu.be/oObcAV9ax-s
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© 2017 - 2024 bschu
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AkhillesY's avatar
Achilles,my favoriteNod 
But wasn't he a blond?