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Medical Mythology: Chiron the Centaur
Medical Mythology: Chiron the Centaur Marc A. Shampo, Ph.D., and Robert A. Kyle, M.D.
In ancient mythology, not all centaurs were violent and lustful. Although their general character was that of wild, lawless, and inhospitable beings, one-Chiron-was wise and just. Chiron, the wisest of all centaurs, was the teacher of the Greek heroes Jason, Hercules, Asklepios, and Achilles. Chiron was well versed in medicine, music, prophecy, and hunting, having been raised and educated by Apollo and his
wife, Artemis. Chiron was the son of the god Cronus and the sea nymph Philyra. He lived in a cave at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly (a region in eastern Greece). Centaurs were a race of beings that were part horse and part man: the head, neck, and arms of a man and the body, legs, and tail of a horse. They lived in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia (a region in southern Greece). Traditionally, they were the offspring of Ixion, the king of the Lapiths, a Thessalian people. The centaurs were best known for their fight with the Lapiths. They lost the battle and were driven from Mount Pelion. When Chiron was accidentally pierced by a poisoned arrow shot by Hercules, he renounced his immortality in favor of Prometheus (god offire) and was placed among the stars in the constellation Sagittarius-a southern constellation that has the form of a centaur shooting an arrow. Chiron and the centaurs have been depicted on many stamps. Chiron is shown on this stamp issued by Spain in 1956.
CORRECTION In the October 1991 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, an editorial by Rozanski ("Limitations to the Electrocardiographic Prediction of Myocardial Area at Risk," pages 1082 to 1084) cites a previous study (Am J Cardiol 61:749-753,1988) that suggested that the number of leads with more than 0.1 mm of ST change could be used to predict the final size of a myocardial infarct. This number, which appears in the second paragraph on page 1082, should be 1.0 mm. (The number was incorrect in the abstract of the original article.)
Mayo Clin Proc 67:158, 1992
158
In ancient mythology, not all centaurs were violent and lustful. Although their general character was that of wild, lawless, and inhospitable beings, one-Chiron-was wise and just. Chiron, the wisest of all centaurs, was the teacher of the Greek heroes Jason, Hercules, Asklepios, and Achilles. Chiron was well versed in medicine, music, prophecy, and hunting, having been raised and educated by Apollo and his
wife, Artemis. Chiron was the son of the god Cronus and the sea nymph Philyra. He lived in a cave at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly (a region in eastern Greece). Centaurs were a race of beings that were part horse and part man: the head, neck, and arms of a man and the body, legs, and tail of a horse. They lived in the mountains of Thessaly and Arcadia (a region in southern Greece). Traditionally, they were the offspring of Ixion, the king of the Lapiths, a Thessalian people. The centaurs were best known for their fight with the Lapiths. They lost the battle and were driven from Mount Pelion. When Chiron was accidentally pierced by a poisoned arrow shot by Hercules, he renounced his immortality in favor of Prometheus (god offire) and was placed among the stars in the constellation Sagittarius-a southern constellation that has the form of a centaur shooting an arrow. Chiron and the centaurs have been depicted on many stamps. Chiron is shown on this stamp issued by Spain in 1956.
CORRECTION In the October 1991 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, an editorial by Rozanski ("Limitations to the Electrocardiographic Prediction of Myocardial Area at Risk," pages 1082 to 1084) cites a previous study (Am J Cardiol 61:749-753,1988) that suggested that the number of leads with more than 0.1 mm of ST change could be used to predict the final size of a myocardial infarct. This number, which appears in the second paragraph on page 1082, should be 1.0 mm. (The number was incorrect in the abstract of the original article.)
Mayo Clin Proc 67:158, 1992
158