The Story of Atalanta

• Atalanta- a beautiful young Greek girl who is swift of feet, strong and an excellent
huntress by the grace of Artemis, her patron goddess; is turned into a lioness
• Meleager- son of the king of Calydon who fell in love with Atalanta
• Hippomenes- Atalanta’s cousin who fell in love with her and ultimately became her
husband; is turned into a lion with Atalanta

Atalanta’s father, it is unsure of his identity, either Iasus or Schoenius, abandoned her in
the mountains as an infant because he was disappointed he was not borne a son. A she-bear came
across her and took her in. She grew up with the bear into a young girl. Hunters came along and
took her in. She finished maturing in their care.
In the meantime a huge boar was ravaging the country of Calydon. The boar was sent by
Artemis in order to punish the King, Oeneus, because he forgot her when he was sacrificing the
first fruits to the gods at the harvest-time. Oeneus called for help upon the bravest men of Greece
to hunt and kill the boar. Atalanta was the only woman there.
When they assembled she was looked down upon and many resented her presence but
one man, Meleager, the son of the king, fell in love with her.
They started the hunt and the boar appeared. As other men died around her and fought
uselessly to kill the beast she kept her head and wounded the boar. Meleager then rushed the
creature and stabbed it in the heart with his javelin. He later gave the skin to Atalanta even though
it was rightfully his because he delivered the defining blow.
This caused Meleager’s death. When his two uncles found out they were enraged.
Meleager killed them for it. Meleager’s mother found out. She, in a fit of rage because of her two
brother’s murders, threw a brand into the fire and it burned. She had received the brand from the
gods when Meleager was an infant. They said it would end his life when it burned away, thus he
was killed. Althea, Meleager’s mother, hung herself out of grief.
It is unsure whether Atalanta ever sailed with Jason and the Argonauts but it is most
likely that she didn’t because there are no accounts of her actions. She would not have held
herself back when deeds of daring were to be done so if she sailed with them there would have
been some account of her actions. It is said that Jason himself talked her out of sailing with them.
The next time she appears is after the Argonauts return. Medea kills Jason’s brother and
funeral games are held in his honor. Atalanta beats the great hero Peleus, the future father of
Achilles, in a wrestling match.
After this she discovered who her parents were and went to live with them. Her father
accepted her because he was reconciled to having a daughter almost if not quite as good as a son.
She had many men who wished to marry her at the time. To dispose of them quickly and
easily she declared that she would marry whoever could beat her in a foot race. She knew that
there was no man who could do it so she was not worried. But there was a man, named
Hippomenes, her cousin, who used his wits to beat her. By the favor of Aphrodite he gained
possession of three golden apples that no one alive could look at without wanting.
Atalanta, Hippomenes and many other men lined up for the race. Hippomenes held the
three apples in his hands. When the race started Atalanta was clearly faster than Hippomenes. But
he threw one apple out at a time. Atalanta stopped each time to pick an apple up and fell behind.
Hippomenes won and Atalanta was his.
Atalanta bore Hippomenes a son, named Parthenopaeus. He was one of the seven against
Thebes. In the end Atalanta and Hippomenes were said to have been turned into lions because of
some affront offered either to Zeus or Aphrodite.

This myth illustrates the dangers of greed using Atalanta’s desire for the golden apples.
Had she had not wanted the apples so badly and left the track to gather them, she would have won
the race. It also illustrates the danger connected to the sin of our pride. It was Atalanta’s pride that
led to her ultimate downfall.