CHIRON The wise Centaur who taught the young Asklepios the arts of medicine and healing, as well as the fleet foot of the hunter. Friend to gods and heroes, Chiron also watched over the childhood of Achilles and Jason. While trying to make peace between Hercules and the Centaurs, Chiron was hit by a poisoned arrow, the unintended victim of one of Hercules' missiles. Unable to cure the wound, which was causing him extreme pain, he offered himself to die in the place of Prometheus, which the gods accepted.