Centaurs in Greek Mythology
"These monsters were represented as men from the head to the loins,
while the rest of the body was that of a horse. The ancients were
too fond of a horse to consider the union of his nature with man's
as forming a very degraded compound, and accordingly the Centaur is
the only one of the fancied monsters of antiquity to which any good
traits are assigned. The Centaurs were admitted to the
companionship of man, and at the marriage of Pirithous with
Hippodamia they were among the guests. At the feast of Eurytion,
one of the Centaurs, becoming intoxicated with the wine, attempted
to offer violence to the bride; the other Centaurs followed his
example, and a dreadful conflict arose in which several of them
were slain. This is the celebrated battle of the Lapiths and the
Centaurs, a favorite subject with the sculptors and poets of
antiquity.
But not all the Centaurs were like the rude guests of Pirithous.
Chiron was instructed by Apollo and Artemis, and was renowned for
his skill in hunting, medicine, music, and the art of prophecy. The
most distinguished heroes of Greek history were his pupils. Among
the rest the infant Asklepios was intrusted to his charge by
Apollo, his father. When the sage returned to his home bearing the
infant, his daughter Ocyroe came forth to meet him, and at sight of
the child burst forth into a prophetic strain (for she was a
prophetess), foretelling the glory that he was to achieve.
Asklepios when grown up became a renowned physician, and even in
one instance succeeded in restoring the dead to life. Hades
resented this, and Zeus, at his request, struck the bold physician
with lightening, and killed him, but after his death received him
into the number of the gods. Chiron was the wisest and most just of
all the Centaurs, and at his death Zeus placed him among the stars
as the constellation Sagittarius."
- from Bulfinch's Mythology