![]() ![]() ![]() Pop CultureĪtalanta has featured in some modern adaptations of the Greek myths, though she is rarely a central character. Some ancient sources suggested that it was Aphrodite who caused them to commit this sacrilege to punish Atalanta’s husband for failing to properly honor her after she helped him win Atalanta. MetamorphosisĪtalanta and her husband eventually offended one of the gods by making love in their temple as punishment, they were transformed into lions. She had a son, Parthenopaeus, who would later fight in the war of the Seven against Thebes. This slowed her enough for the young man to win the race, and the virgin Atalanta finally married. The young man did as he was told: every time Atalanta started gaining on him, he dropped an apple, and she would stop to pick it up. Hippomenes and Atalanta by Guido Reni (1618–1619). Aphrodite gave the young man three golden apples and told him to drop them at intervals during the footrace. Some sources claimed that any suitor who lost would be put to death.After many suitors had tried and failed to win Atalanta’s hand, one young man (called either Hippomenes or Melanion, depending on the source) convinced Aphrodite to come to his aid. Atalanta said she would only marry the man who could beat her in a footrace. Still hoping for a male heir, he insisted that his daughter be married. The FootraceĪfter many years, Atalanta was reunited with her father. The best-known version of the myth states that Meleager’s mother, Althaea, heartbroken at hearing that Meleager had killed her brothers, threw a magical log into the fire that consumed Meleager’s life as it burned. In the ensuing struggle, Meleager was ultimately killed too. In revenge, Meleager killed them.Ītalanta and Meleager by Peter Paul Rubens (ca. This angered Meleager’s uncles, and they tried to take the hide from Atalanta. But Meleager had fallen in love with the beautiful Atalanta and offered her the boar’s skin, claiming she had earned it because she had been the first to wound the beast. Atalanta eventually managed to hit the animal and was the first to draw blood from it soon after, Meleager killed it. They were led by Meleager, the brave son of King Oeneus.ĭuring the hunt, several men were killed by the boar. All the greatest heroes of Greece, including Atalanta, came to Calydon to help hunt down the terrible boar. The Calydonian Boar was a monstrous creature sent to wreak havoc on Calydon after the city’s king, Oeneus, offended the goddess Artemis. Vase painting of Atalanta wrestling Peleus, Chalcidian hydria (540–530 BCE).Ītalanta also took part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, though with tragic consequences. Peleus, the father of the mighty Achilles, was an Argonaut and a great warrior in his own right but Atalanta defeated him in their wrestling match. In one myth, sometimes represented in ancient art, Atalanta wrestled with the hero Peleus during the funeral games of King Pelias of Iolcus. According to some sources, she was among the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to steal the Golden Fleece. AdventuresĪs an adult, Atalanta participated in several famous exploits alongside the male heroes of her time. When two centaurs, Hylaeus and Rhoecus, tried to force themselves upon her, she killed them using her bow. As a young woman, she made a vow to the goddess Artemis that she would remain a virgin. She grew up in the woods and mountains and became a skilled hunter. Atalanta was subsequently suckled by a she-bear. Family TreeĪtalanta’s father, a minor king, wanted a son when he had a daughter instead, he left the infant to die by exposing her in the wilderness. Atalanta’s father was sometimes said to have been the ruler of Arcadia, and sometimes a ruler of Boeotia. FamilyĪtalanta was the daughter of a king, though the name of the king and the location of his kingdom vary among the ancient sources. She often carried her bow and arrows, with which she was famously skilled. Atalanta’s name thus means “she who toils greatly.” PronunciationĪtalanta was usually depicted as a beautiful young maiden. The name “Atalanta” seems to be related to the Greek verb * tlaō, meaning “to toil” or “endure” (itself derived from the Indo-European * telh₂-) the a- added as a prefix acts as an intensifier. ![]()
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