"Centaurs figured heavily in the mythology of the ancient Greeks — so much so that two of them are immortalized in the stars as our constellations of Sagittarius the Archer and Centaurus the Centaur. The legend of these half-man, half-horse beasts might have originated when someone long ago first saw humans on horseback and imagined them to be some sort of human-equine hybrid.
Centaurus is one of our most ancient constellations, first mentioned in Greek literature from the fourth century BC. It is thought to represent the centaur named Chiron. He was a wise old centaur that served as the personal tutor of Greek heroes like Hercules, Theseus and Jason.
During one of Hercules’ many rowdy scuffles, Chiron accidentally was nicked by one of Hercules’ poisoned arrows. Being immortal, Chiron could not die, but the agony of the wound was so severe that he begged Zeus to revoke his immortality. This Zeus did, and Chiron was mercifully allowed to die. Zeus then immortalized the image of Chiron among the stars as our constellation of Centaurus...."
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