The Heroine Atalanta in Greek Mythology

Atalanta is one of the few heroines from Greek mythology. In general tales from ancient Greece are a mixture of gods and goddesses, both male and female, whilst the status of hero is almost always a male domain. Atalanta appears in a number of stories, although as with the majority of Greek mythological stories, there are a number of different versions. The differing versions may indicate two heroines of the same name, though there is also a presumption that there is only one.

Atalanta was the daughter of either King Iasus and Clymene, or Schoeneus of Boeotia. The father though desired a son so much that on her birth she was taken into woodland and abandoned to her fate. Instead of death though, Atalanta survives and the goddess, Artemis, sent a female bear to suckle her. A group of hunters eventually find her and raised her as one of their own.

Atalanta and the Calydonian Boar - Peter Paul Rubens - PD-art-100

Growing up amongst the hunters, Atalanta soon comes to love the hunt, and begins to compete amongst the males of the group. By the time she reaches womanhood, Atalanta is the best at many of the male preserves, including hunting, running and wrestling. Growing up against men, though also saw Atalanta have no desire for a partner, in fact she received an oracle that her marriage would end in disaster.

As a notable athlete, Atalanta’s name appears on some lists of those who travelled with Jason on the Argo. Whilst in some tales, Jason refused Atalanta passage, fearing a woman on board would result in problems, other versions see Atalanta fighting with Jason at the battle of Colchis.

After the quest for the Golden Fleece, Atalanta participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. King Oeneus ordered his son, Meleager, a fellow Argonaut, to round up as many heroes as he could to kill the Boar. During the hunt, Meleager fell in love with Atalanta, and Atalanta fell in love with him, although she refused his marriage proposal. During the hunt Atalanta was also made to defend her virtue, killing two centaurs, Rhoecus and Hylaeus, who had attempted to rape her.

Atalanta was credited in drawing first blood with one of animals during the hunt, although it was Meleager who killed the boar. Rather than keeping the hide of the boar as was his right, Meleager awarded the hide to Atalanta. This caused resentment amongst the other hunters, especially with Meleager’s uncles, Toxeus and Plexippus. Meleager killed both of his uncles when the protested about the award of the pelt. This though resulted in more bloodshed, as Meleager’s mother killed her son, by throwing an enchanted log into a fire, the log representing Meleager’s life.

With the love of her life now dead, Atalanta returned to her father, be it Iasus or Schoeneus, who now had a daughter to be proud of. Her father then sought to do his duty in finding his daughter a husband. Atalanta though had no desire to be married, seeing it as a betrayal of Meleager, and also heading the warnings of the Oracle or marital disaster. Atalanta designed a test to aid her avoid marriage, Atalanta would only marry a suitor who could beat her in a foot race, if any suitor failed in the test they would be executed. Atalanta believed that suitors would be put off as she was known as one of the fastest of all mortals. Atalanta’s beauty though was enticing and soon many suitors had been outrun and executed.

Atalanta and Hippomenes - Willem van Herp - PD-art-100

Then a suitor called Melanion, also known as Hippomenes, fell in love with Atalanta. Knowing though he could not beat Atalanta in a fair foot race, Melanion prayed to the goddess Aphrodite for assistance. Aphrodite in her weakness for lovers provided Melanion with three golden apples, or quince, and a plan to win. During the race when Atalanta was ahead, Melanion was to role an apple to distract Atalanta. As Atalanta stopped to pick up the apple, Melanion would overtake and eventually with the role of the last apple, Melanion won the race and Atalanta’s hand in marriage.

Melanion though forgot to sacrifice to Aphrodite for his success, and the angered goddess sought her revenge. The newly married couple of Atalanta and Melanion, sought to consummate their marriage, and Aphrodite tricked them into giving into their desires in a shrine to Zeus. An outraged Zeus turned the lovers into lions, a poetic punishment as Greek believed that lions could only mate with leopards and not their own species.

The only mystery surrounding Atalanta is that she bore a son, though still apparently a virgin. Atalanta bore a son, Parthenopeus, though the father is not known, Meleager and Melanion were with Atalanta for only short periods of time. The father is therefore often credited to be the god Ares. Embarrassed by the illegitimate son, Atalanta abandoned the child just as her father had deserted her, though Parthenopeus grew up to be a hero just like his mother.

Copyright - First Published 27th February 2008