There is a bit of controversy regarding this constellation of the archer. It is over whether the stars represent Centaurus. The archer does not seem to have four legs, and appears to be standing shooting his bow. The confusion over Sagittarius mirrors the kind of confusion one would have over being half-man, half-horse.

The non-centaur view is that the figure in the heavens is the hunter and horseman Crotus, who lived on Mount Helicon and either nursed or kept company with the Muses. He is credited with being a good hunter and musician (the string of the bow is the foundation of the harp, in all likelihood). Because he was go gifted as a musician, the Muses asked Zeus to place him among the stars. Hyginus says that Zeus wished to represent all of Crotus’s abilities together, so he gave him horse’s legs and arrows for the archery skills. Moreover, he was given a satyr’s tail because the Muses delighted in him in the same way that Dionysos enjoyed the satyrs.

Eratosthenes, in addition, mentions one delightful quality of Crotus: as he listened to them, he expressed his enthusiasm to their rhythmless song by clapping his hands, a habit that is even used today in our concerts. That Zeus endowed Crotus with horse’s legs means that the case that he is truly a centaur is very likely. However, as the centaur is the symbol of the animal and the human side of human nature, perhaps Crotus is the man who climbed down from the horse and chose to live as a man with human powers, including the power to shoot the bow and enjoy the arts, rather than the wild ride over the countryside.

If, however, the constellation is a centaur, then traditionally it is Chiron, not the wild ones who tend to get drunk at weddings and break all the furniture. They are also very uncontrolled in their sexual desires. However, the most accomplished of all the centaurs, Chiron is credited with teaching many heroes, including Achilles, Jason, Aeneas, and tutoring Asclepius, the first great doctor. Chiron knew the arts of healing using herbs and medicinal plants. He was expert at music as well.

Chiron was also immortal, and it is his immortality that is at the heart of his tragedy. During a visit to his cave by his good friend Heracles, wine was served. The neighboring centaurs smelled it, and decided to boorishly gate-crash the party. A fight naturally ensued, and Heracles picked up his bow and shoot arrows dipped in the Hydra’s poison, killing them all. However, during the scuffle, an arrow accidentally fell on Chiron’s knee or foot, wounding him severely. After the battle, Chiron’s pain was insufferable and there was no cure even among the great medicines he had developed. Immortal, he could not die of the poison, but he would feel it nevertheless. He cried to out Zeus to relieve him of his immortality. Apollodorus reports that Prometheus offer himself to be immortal in his stead, and so Chiron was allowed to die and was placed among the stars.

There are many variants of the battle that Heracles fights with the centaurs, the most notable is in Ovid which is completely different from the one related here. What is important, however, is not so much the actual story, but the problem of the immortality that Chiron gave up. The morality of the centaur is in his body, and it appears that what is human has a kind of immortality to it. However, like humans, there is no way to get out of that body, although it does seem that human beings can enjoy a life that is not as irrational as the body part of the centaur. In the end, no human being can remain immortal as long as he is combined with the animal part of himself.


By Kalev Pehme
winshop.com.au/annew/MythsZodiac.html

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