Who is Chiron?

For any teachers, students, or parents read this, happy back-to-school season. I grew up with a teacher father so I always respected teachers, but my respect has infinitely increased since marrying a teacher. Y’all, teaching is insane. So every year I feel the need to write about the great teachers (see also Mr. Feeny) and the not-so-great (see also Snape). This year, as Russell and I begin our Riordanverse podcast series I thought I’d spotlight the original teacher and mentor of the Percy Jackson series: Chiron (aka Mr. Brunner).

Long before teaching Latin to Percy at Yancy Academy, the centaur Chiron trained heroes like Hercules and Achilles. Granted immortality to train heroes, the son of Kronos set his home base at Mount Pelion. This would become the precursor to Camp Half-Blood. Even among mortals, You love to teach. During this time at Yancy, he was Percy’s favorite teacher (By the way, what did  those kids think the sword was through the mist?).

As portrayed by Glynn Turman in the Lightning Thief movie

By the time Percy Jackson came onto the scene, Chiron had long since established Camp Half-Blood as his base of operations. The camp had been established in America generations before (at least to the time of George Washington, son of Athena). Luke and Annabeth were among Chiron’s veteran pupils when Percy arrived with Grover. 

Other than the time that Olympus removed him from Camp, for suspicion of poisoning Thalia’s tree, Chiron mentored our heroes as they navigated the Great Prophecy (even during that time he helped a bit via Iris Message). And during the adventures of the Argo II, Chiron helped to prepare the camp for the oncoming attack of Camp Jupiter. 

Chiron (as Mr. Brunner) as portrayed on Disney Plus

After the reconciling of the two camps, he was seen substitute teaching (as Mr. Brunner) in New York City. Just for the love of teaching. Though I'm sure he was still subbing periodically, Chiron was present during that school year when Lester (aka Apollo) arrived at Camp Half-Blood with Meg. However, when they returned to Camp months later, Chiron was off meeting with representatives of the Egyptian and Norse pantheons. But he made it back for the Battle of Nero's Tower and was present to mentor Nico in the months during the expedition into Tartarus and the mission to Camp Jupiter.

I look forward to seeing Chiron's involvement in the upcoming Camp Half-Blood series and maybe the final Senior Year Adventures book. And maybe we'll get another Nico book? Bottom line, Chiron is the golden teacher. Regardless of whether he's teaching mortal pupils or demigod heroes, he does it for the love of teaching. Those are the best teachers (again, I'm biased because I married one of those). Even after millennia of tragic heroes and disappointments, Chiron wasn't jaded by his past. Though the events of the Riordanverse take place over fifteen years ago, I'm sure Chiron is still training future heroes. Only question is how many of Rick Riordan's heroes are alive and how many of them met tragic endings, like the heroes of legend.

As shown in the graphic novel

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• "6 Historical Figures Who Were Demigods" by Spencer