King Oeneus of Calydon married Althaea, but she lay with the god Ares and gave birth
to Meleager. Shortly after the child was born the Fates visited Althaea, warning her that if a
certain log on the fire was burnt Meleager would die. Althaea hurried to rescue the log and
stored it safely away. In time Meleager became an unbeatable warrior and an expert with
the javelin.
King Oeneus neglected to honor Artemis one summer as he was sacrificing the first
fruits of his harvest to the Olympians. To avenge herself, Artemis sent a gigantic boar to
ravage Calydon. The boar succeeded in destroying the crops and killing Oeneus’ cattle and
men. To rid himself of the boar, Oeneus sent out word that he needed hunters to slay the
beast, and that the one who triumphed would be rewarded with the boar’s tusks and pelt.
Heroes showed up from many parts of Greece, among them was a woman, Atalanta,
who was as good at tracking and killing game as any man in the party. Artemis had sent the
young huntress to be a source of arguments. Atalanta had beauty, toughness, and
competence. Her life had not been easy. When she was born, her father exposed her on a
mountain to die in his disappointment at not having a son. She had been nursed by a shebear and raised by a family of hunters.
Although he had a wife, Meleager fell passionately in love with Atalanta. She was a
woman after his own heart. Some of the hunters refused to join in the hunt because of her
presence, but Meleager managed to persuade them to stay. Finally, the hunting begun;
Atalanta struck the boar with an arrow, but Meleager killed it with two javelins.
When Meleager offered the award to Atalanta, his two uncles objected to this since
Atalanta had not killed the boar and she was only a woman. In rage Meleager killed the two
uncles. The other two uncles raised a fighting force against Meleager, so he killed them too.
Meleager’s mother was very angry with this. She took the log, rescued long time ago, to burn.
Meleager felt himself burnt within and died in agony.
Atalanta, however, obtained the trophies and went to her father’s home, showing
herself to be equal to men. Her father insisted that she marry, but Atalanta set the conditions.
She would only marry a man who could beat her in a footrace, but she would kill anyone who
failed. A number of suitors died at her hands.
Finallly, one Melanion requested help from Aphrodite, who gave him three golden
apples and told him to roll each one in Atalanta’s path as she gained on him. Melanion did as
the goddess guided, won the race and gained Atalanta for his wife. Later Melanion
persuaded her to make love in a place sacred to Zeus, and for this impiety Zeus changed the
pair into lions.