Chapter Twelve –

Taken from Mythology for Today – Hamilton’s Mythology

1. Atalanta’s father does not think she is “worthwhile” because she is a girl; the men are angry and embarrassed that Atalanta, a girl, wins the prize in the boar hunt; Atalanta’s future husband wins the race by exploiting her “feminine” desire for beautiful objects, as opposed to sport. 2. Because she is abandoned in the woods, Atalanta is adopted by hunters, so that she becomes well skilled in hunting. 3. The Calydonian boar was a creature sent by to punish King of for failing to offer her harvest sacrifices. The brutal boar ravaged the land and the cattle, and killed the men who tried to destroy it. 4. The boar hunt ends in a controversy over who should be honored with the boar skin—the prize for the best hunter. Although Atalanta was the first to hit the boar, it was who killed the creature. 5. He is in love with Atalanta. 6. When Meleager was born, his mother heard the Fates say that when a certain log was burned to ash, he would die. Althea, his mother, snatched the log from the fire and hid it in the chest. When Meleager kills his uncles, Althea’s brothers, Althea is so angered that she throws the log onto the fire, and as it burns away, Meleager dies. 7. Atalanta challenges each of her suitors to a foot race. If a suitor wins, she will marry him; if she wins, she will remain independent. 8. likes to help bring love to those stubborn maidens who refuse it. 9. Her suitor triumphs not by speed, but by wits. As they are running, he tosses three beautiful, irresistible golden apples before Atalanta, so that in stopping to pick them up, she loses the race. 10. It is said she is changed into a lioness.