| |
 An unfortunate start
Atalanta had an unhappy start in life and almost didn't make it. Her father, King Schoeneus, disappointed at having a girl instead of a boy, abandoned his new-born daughter in the Arcadian mountains to be eaten by wolves. But Artemis, the goddess of forests, hills and hunting, took pity on the poor baby and gave it to a female bear to suckle her. Later on, Atalanta was found by a hunter who took her with him and brought her up.
An unsual woman
As she was growing up, Atalanta was becoming famous for her beauty and braveness. She became a great huntress, following the hunting skills of her patroness, goddess Artemis. The fast and fearless Atalanta could out-run and out-wrestle any man who would challenge her. In wrestling, she managed to beat the renowned Peleus , who was later to become the father of Achilles. Another of her accomplishments was the killing of the two centaurs, Rhoecus and Hylaeus , who were stupid enough to attempt to rape her. According to a legend, Atalanta also joined Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece and was the only female among the crew. The legend also says that she was wounded at Colchis and was healed by Medea. However, other versions of the legend indicate that Jason had to regretfully deny Atalanta's offer of help due to the male chauvinistic attitude of the Argonauts.
The hunt of the Calydonian Boar 
Atalanta gained further reputation when she took part in the great hunt of the Calydonian Boar. King Oeneus, who used to hold annual sacrifices to appease the gods, once unintentionally forgot to honor goddess Artemis during his sacrificial rituals. Artemis got furious and decided to avenge this humiliation by sending a huge, vicious boar to devastate the Calydonian countryside, destroying crops and vineyards, creating a famine and driving the people inside the city walls where they faced starvation. This is when King Oeneus entrusted to Meleager, his son, to capture and kill this Boar that was destroying his country. Meleager asked some great warriors to help him.
Many famous heroes and kings came that time to Calydonia to hunt the Boar, including Jason, Nestor, Iphicles, Telemon and Peleus. Atalanta also appeared in Calydonia, seeking for adventure and ready to show her courage once more. When Meleager saw Atalanta, he immediately fell in love with her. When the fierce hunt began, Atalanta managed to strike the first blow wounding the Boar, causing the wonder and shame of the male hunters. Finally, after many days of hunting, Meleager managed to kill the Boar. Everyone, of course, was disappointed for not being the winner, but they were more furious that a woman had managed to cause a wound to the Boar and they had failed even to cause it a scratch. Things went out of control when the love-struck Meleager decided to award the trophy to Atlanta, for having drawn the first blood in the hunt. This outraged many of the male hunters, particularly Meleager's two uncles. These men assaulted Atalanta and Meleager got furious and killed them. When Meleager’s mother saw her brothers being killed, she got so mad that she killed her own son. This was the tragic end of Meleager and the final revenge of goddess Artemis, who let the things go so far.
The reconciliation with her father
In the meanwhile, Schoeneus, Atalanta’s father, who had once tried to get rid of her, could no longer ignore the great fame of his proud and fierce daughter. He reconciled with her and Atalanta went to live in his palace. Like any good father, Schoeneus wanted his daughter to marry a man worthy of her. However, Atalanta had decided to remain a life-long virgin, especially after the tragic death of Meleager. But her father insisted so much that Atalanta agreed to marry on one condition: she would marry any young man who would beat her in a foot-race, but if the man couldn’t beat her, he would be killed. Many young men came forward to compete Atalanta in the foot-race, but they lost both the race and their lives.
Meeting Hippomenes
One day, another fearless young man decided to stake all for the hand of the beautiful Atalanta. This young man, Hippomenes, also known as Melanion, was that smart as brave. He decided to raise the odds in his favor by asking the help of Artemis, Atalanta's patroness. The goddess took pity on the young man and gave him three irresistible golden apples: the idea was to scatter the apples one by one during the race to distract Atalanta's attention, so that Hippomenes could overtake her. At the beginning of the race, Atlanta took pity on this latest competitor doomed to die. When the race started, the virgin huntress could at first easily gain the young man. Hippomenes, following Artemis' advice, scattered the first and then the second apple a little farther from the course. Although she couldn't resist the attraction of the apples, she picked up the apples and resumed the race, again easily leaving behind her competitor. Nearing the finish line, an almost desperate Hippomenes finally threw the third apple, praying silently that this would distract Atalanta long enough for him to reach the finish line first. This way he could win the beautiful hand of Atalanta and would keep his head intact. Maybe she was really distracted, or maybe Atlanta really did not want this good-looking young man to lose his head. Whichever the reason, Hippomenes won the race and got married to Atalanta.
The tragic separation
The newly-weds, Atalanta and Hippomenes, were enjoying their happiness and they were having their whole life ahead of them. However, the Fates had other plans. Hippomenes had a fatal flaw in his character: a short memory. As soon as he won the lovely Atalanta, he forgot all about his benefactress, the proud Artemis. The goddess got extremely furious that Hippomenes did not honor her as properly, after he had won Atalanta. So Artemis, once again, decided to take her revenge. While Atalanta and Hippomenes were praying in the temple of Zeus, Artemis inflamed the couple with such sexual passion that they led them to make love inside the temple. This was, of course, sacrilege. Zeus, in his turn, got enraged and transformed them into lions. According to the belief of that time, lions could mate only with leopards, not with other lions. Therefore, the poor couple spent the rest of their life apart. They paid the price for not recognizing the generosity of the goddess who united them and for not honouring her the way they should. Their punishment was turtourous and would last for the rest of their lives.
|
Back:
Related: