ATALANTA WAS A BEAUTIFUL AND CONFIDENT YOUNG GREEK GODDESS WHO HAD THE ABILITY TO RUN FASTER THAN ANY HUMAN.SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF LASUS,SON OF LYCURGUS,AND CLYMENE,DAUGHTER OF MINYAS.SHE IS ALSO MENTIONED AS DAUGHTER OF MAINALOS OR SHOENEUS OF ARCADIAN PRINCESS .
Atalanta was a great Arkadian huntress and a favourite of the goddess Artemis. She was exposed by her father in the wilderness at birth, but was suckled by a she-bear and afterwards found and raised by hunters.She swore to the goddess to defend her virginity and, when Centaurs burst into her grove, destroyed them with her arrows.Later she participated in the voyage of the Argonauts, and defeated the hero Peleus in wrestling at the funeral games of King Pelias.When Meleagros gathered heroes to destroy the Kalydonian Boar, Atalanta joined the hunt and was the first to draw blood.Meleagros awarded her the prize of the skin, and when his uncles tried to take it from her force, he slew them.After the Calydonian boar hunt, Atalanta was rediscovered by her father. He wanted her to be married, but Atalanta, uninterested in marriage, agreed to marry only if her suitors could outrun her in a footrace. Those who lost would be killed. King Schoeneus agreed, and many young men died in the attempt until Hippomenes came along.Hippomenes asked the goddess Aphrodite for help, and she gave him three golden apples in order to slow Atalanta down. Aphrodite gave him three golden apples – which came rom the Garden of the Hesperides, according to Servius – and told him to drop them one at a time to distract Atalanta. These golden apples were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to Hera as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus.The golden apples were irresistible, so every time Atalanta got ahead of Hippomenes, he rolled an apple ahead of her, and she would run after it. In this way, Hippomenes won the footrace and came to marry Atalanta. Eventually they had a son Parthenopaios.Zeus or his mother Rhea turned Atalanta and Hippomenes into lions after they made love together in one of his temples.Other accounts say that Aphrodite changed them into lions because they did not give her proper honor.The belief at the time was that lions could not mate with their own species, only with leopards; thus Atalanta and Hippomenes would never be able to remain with one another.Goddess Aphrodite gave Hippomenes three golden apple which he used to beat Atalanta in the footrace, as he rolled them ahead of her while she was running. Hippomenes was also known as Melanion, a name possibly derived from “melon” the Greek word for both “apple” and fruit in general.The abandoned child of an Arcadian king, Atalanta is rescued by a bear in the wild, then adopted by hunters. She grows to be both a beautiful woman and a skilled huntress. As a devout follower of Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt, Atalanta too decides to remain a virgin by any means necessary.The myths of Atalanta are adventure filled as she protects her chastity against aggressive suitors, becomes the only woman on the Quest for the Golden Fleece with Jason and the Argonauts, and kills a huge boar wreaking havoc on Calydon. The determined and talented huntress is eventually reunited with her father and gives up her single life at his request, but not before orchestrating a challenge for the men who want her hand. King Iasus of Arcadia was disappointed when his daughter was born as he would have preferred a boy child, and for this reason he ordered that the baby Atalanta be abandoned in the wilderness. According to the legend, a mother bear finds the infant girl and feeds her bear milk until some friendly hunters come along and take her under their wing. They raise her to be a great huntress.Atalanta becomes a dedicated follower of Artemis, a chaste goddess, and she too is committed to remaining a virgin. As she grew, so did her beauty, which attracted men of all kinds despite her disinterest. Rhoecus and Hylaeus, two centaurs (half-man, half-horse creatures), tried to forcibly have their way with her. They were no match for the swift and skillful virgin and she killed them both with her arrows.Later, she is the only woman to accompany Jason and the Argonauts on the famous quest for the Golden Fleece. Atalanta defeats prince Peleus of the island of Aegina at the funeral games for King Pelias in a wrestling match. She is a fierce competitor. Two separate provinces, Arcadia and Boeotia, claimed the origin of Atalanta, an Amazonian heroine. In the Boeotian version Atalanta was a daughter of Schoineus, son of Athamas, while in the Arcadian was a daughter of Iasos.When Atalanta was born in Arcadia, her father Iasos ordered that she should be exposed in the wilds because he wanted a male heir alone. After she was abandoned on Mount Parthenion, she was suckled by a wolf or bear till she was saved by some passing hunters who brought her up in the mountains.When she grew up, she chose to remain up in the mountains, living her life as a virgin huntress with a cave for a home and then took an oath of virginity to the goddess Artemis.Atalanta was the only woman that joined the hunt of the Calydonian Boar and the first to wound it. Meleagros, the leader of the hunt, was so impressed by her bravery that he awarded her the prize of honor even though he killed the boar himself.
The goddess Diana has taken insult over the Calydonian king's failure to pay her tribute during the harvest festival. To avenge herself, she sends a ferocious boar to ravage the land. The king's son Meleager, accompanied by the bravest warriors, seeks to destroy the creature. Atalanta, the beautiful virgin huntress, joins the hunt and is the first to wound the boar with her arrow, much to the chagrin of her male competitors.In this oil sketch, or "modello," Atalanta shoots an arrow at the deadly target while Meleager prevents the boar's escape with his spear.
Near Arcadia was the small city of Calydon, ruled by King Oeneus. His son, the crown prince, was the handsome Meleager who had also been on the quest for the Golden Fleece. During that time he had become quite enamored with beautiful and courageous Atalanta, despite the fact the he already had a wife.It was customary in Calydon to sacrifice the first fruits of the harvest to the gods as a sign of gratitude and respect. In a quite careless error of omission, King Oeneus did not include the goddess Artemis in the offerings. The offended goddess sent an enormous and nasty wild boar to the city and it began to destroy crops and kill cattle.King Oeneus summoned the bravest and fiercest hunters to fight the boar, including his son Meleager and the seasoned huntress Atalanta. The skin of the boar would be the prize for the hunter who could kill it. Many of the men weren’t thrilled to be fighting alongside a woman, but Meleager insisted on her inclusion and the hunt began.Atalanta was the first to shoot but the beast was huge and it would take more than one arrow to kill it. Meleager speared the boar and came within inches of being killed himself by the wild beast, but eventually he was triumphant and was awarded the hide, which he promptly gifted to Atalanta. His uncles, who had also participated in the hunt, were annoyed that the prize was going to a woman. They declared that if Meleager didn’t want to keep the hide, then they were in line for the prize and tried to snatch it from Atalanta. In a fit of rage, Meleager killed the two big-mouthed uncles. His mother, the queen, was devastated by the death of her brothers and threw a magical log on a fire that consumed her love-struck son. According to the legends, it had been previously determined by the Fates (the three mythological incarnations of destiny) that Meleager would die if the special log was ever burnt. A sad ending for the prince, and for his mother as another boar emerged from the forest and trampled her. After the boar hunt, Atalanta had become a famed Calydonian huntress and, due to her celebrity status, not surprisingly, her father the Arcadian king Iasus who had abandoned her for being female, showed up to reunite with his daughter. Atalanta agreed to return to her father’s home, with the condition that she could remain a virgin. But endless suitors were coming to ask for her hand in marriage and the king soon changed his mind and insisted she choose a husband.Atalanta reluctantly agreed, but she would require a man who could outrun her in a race – not an easy feat, as she was so quick. The caveat was that any loser would be killed. Well, as young men often do, they lined up to take their chances, and quite a few runners for love ended up dead, until Hippomenes came along. A pretty crafty guy, with his eye on the bridal prize, he called upon the goddess Aphrodite to assist him.Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was naturally not a big fan of virgins, and agreed to help. She gave Hippomenes three irresistible golden apples. Apples of this sort are on ongoing theme in Greek mythology; both gods and mortals covet them and Atalanta was easily susceptible to their trick. Every time she took the lead in the race, Hippomenes would toss a golden apple and she would run off course to chase it down. He won the race with this scheme and the two married and later had a son named Parthenopaios.Hippomenes, however, in his excitement, forgot to thank the goddess Aphrodite for her help. This was not a brilliant move, as goddesses preferred to be appreciated. She made Hippomenes become so overcome with lust that he took Atalanta the next moment he sees her, which happened to be in Zeus’s temple.It was believed back then that lions could not mate with their own species, only with leopards. As their punishment for their disrespectful acts they were both turned into lions so they could never mate again. Depending on the version of the tale in question, either Zeus or Aphrodite was responsible for this transformation. Either way, the fate of Atalanta and Hippomenes was the same: to live out their lives as lions unable to come together ever again. When Atalanta found her father, he insisted that she should settle down and marry. The Calydonian boar hunt, an episode from a story told by the Latin poet, Ovid (43 B.C.-A.D.17) in his celebrated Metamorphoses, a series of fifteen poems based upon ancient folklore. In the eighth poem or 'Book' Ovid recounts the tale of two lovers, Meleager and Atalanta, who, with their companions, set out to hunt a wild boar, sent by the goddess Diana to ravage the countryside around the city of Calydon, in an act of revenge against Meleager's father, King Oeneus. Upon killing the boar, Meleager presents the head and skin of the boar to Atalanta. This act provokes a quarrel, in which Meleager kills his two uncles, before himself slowly wasting away. In the picture Wilson depicts the moment at which Meleager, seated upon horseback to the right, plunges his spear into the boar, following its wounding by Atalanta, situated at the far left of the picture with her companions. In the background, silhouetted by storm clouds is the city of Calydon. She consulted the oracle, who told Atalanta, that if she ever were to be married, it would bring about her doom. Fearing for her future, she decided never to marry. Instead, she developed a plan which prohibited any man marrying her. The only way a man could only marry Atalanta, was if he beat her in a footrace. If any man challenged her and lost, they would be executed.Despite the consequences if they lost, many young men came to Atalanta’s remote forest and challenged her to a race. As expected, she won ever race leading to many men being killed. One young man, however, Hippomenes, watched the races and instantly fell in love with the beautiful Atalanta. Smitten with the huntress, Hippomenes prayed to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. The goddess, moved by his plea, showed him how to win. As the race began, Atalanta took the lead three times. Hippomenes tossed one of the magical apples into her path and each time Atlanta paused to pick up the apple, allowing Hippomenes to take the lead. Aphrodite made the last apple very heavy in order to slow Atalanta down, which led Hippomenes to win the race. Atalanta, finding him handsome, was delighted that he won the race. Since both young people could not contain their happiness, Hippomenes forgot to honor Aphrodite for her help. He failed to show his gratitude. As the couple waltzed through the woods, smitten with one another, they passed a holy shrine of Mother Earth. Lusting over one another, they upset another god, Mother Earth. With some encouragement from Aphrodite, Mother Earth turned them both into lions as a punishment. . Ironically, Atalanta’s marriage to Hippomenes did ultimately cause her doom.Atalanta tried to escape marriage by forcing her suitors to compete with her in a race at the risk of their lives. She marked out a course for a run race, knocking a stake into the ground half-way and told her suitors to set off from that point, saying that she would chase after them. If anyone could make it to the end he would marry her or if she approached anyone in the race she would kill him with her spear.Hippomenes was the only suitor who succeeded in the race with the help of goddess Aphrodite. Atalanta got married to Hippomenes and eventually they had a son Parthenopaios, who was one of the Seven against Thebes. Because of Hippomenes failed to thank the goddess for the help she provided, Aphrodite is said to have turned the couple into lions after their marriage.
Ironically, Atalanta’s marriage to Hippomenes did ultimately cause her doom.The Boar ravaged Calydon, destroying crops, cattle, and people. King Oeneus 2 didn't hesitate this time, and called in the noblest men and Atalanta to fight the terror. Even his son Meleager joined the team. The skin of the boar was offered as a reward to the man who could kill it. Now, the times were sexist then (though not as much as one might imagine in some ways), and many of the noblemen were not interested in fighting alongside a woman - even one with a reputation like Atalanta's. Fortunately for Atalanta, Meleager was in love with her , and convinced the other men to follow her.
