In Greek mythology, Chiron was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
The Education of Achilles by Chiron, fresco from Herculaneum, 1st century AD (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples)
Chiron, Peleus and infant Achilles
Peleus wrestling Thetis between Chiron and a Nereid. Side B of an Attic black-figure amphora, c. 510 BC.
Amphora suggested to be Achilles riding Chiron. British Museum ref 1956,1220.1 .
A centaur, occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version of the myth, the centaurs were named after Centaurus, and, through his brother Lapithes, were kin to the legendary tribe of the Lapiths.
Centaur
Centauromachy, tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 480 BC
"Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts" is estimated to have been made between 120 and 130 A.D. for the dining-room of Hadrian's Villa . The mosaic now resides in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in Germany.
Painting by Sebastiano Ricci, of centaurs at the marriage of Pirithous, king of the Lapithae
