The Greek Goddess
Atalanta
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Goddess of the
Hunt,
Travel and Adventure
Atalanta's name means "Unswaying" and she certainly lived up to it
. . . Atalanta was a girl with attitude!
She was born to a father who was hoping for a son
and put the infant Atalanta out in the forest where she was raised by one of Artemis'
she-bears, but eventually reappeared in his life bearing no grudge against him.
She never seemed to fall in the trap of
"buying into" trying to win approval or fit into any conventional mold. Atalanta
stood ready to defend her personal values, and was perfectly capable of doing so.
Saying
her polite goodbyes, she left home at an early age to see the world before settling down .
. . if she ever decided to settle down, that is.
One thing was certain, no one else would
be doing her deciding for her. Not now, not
ever! Home was fine, but there was simply too
much out there to see and do to get stuck in one place for too long.
Atalanta was one of the warrior goddesses,
those who were known for their fierce independence, competitiveness, and physical skills. She became famous as an adventurer, the only woman
to join the band of heroes that accompanied Jason, sailing to distant countries to capture
the Golden Fleece and bring it safely back to Greece, a quest that entailed considerable
danger as they faced numerous tests and perils along the way.
Atalanta was a marvelous huntress. Expert with her bow and arrow, she was sometimes
included as "just one of the boys" in various sporting events.
The most famous of these exploits was the Hunt for
the Calydonian Boar. In retaliation for some
affront against her by the king of Calydon, Artemis had loosed her gigantic, foul-tempered
boar in the kingdom to wreak havoc throughout the countryside. And wreak havoc he did, trampling all the crops,
gobbling up all the livestock, and making the residents fearful of leaving the safety of
their houses.
Several talented hunters had been employed to
kill the beast, but had failed miserably, losing their own lives. Eventually the king had
the clever idea of advertising a hunting competition that would attract all the great
hunters; surely having them all there at the same time, and the boar vastly outnumbered,
would tilt the odds in his favor.
Since the
boar's rampages had already brought the kingdom close to bankruptcy, the winner's prize
would be humble (just the boar's pelt and elephant-size tusks), but the fame and glory
that went to the one who killed the beast, not to mention the undying gratitude of the
people, would be enormous.
As it happened, Meleager, the king's son who
would be joining in the hunt that day, was taken with Atalanta and invited her to join the
men. Although he was already married, he was
quite smitten with her, attracted both by her beauty and her prowess. The other men, however, weren't very happy to have
a woman included in the hunt. As it turned out, they were lucky to have her there.
The men's initial clumsy moves did nothing but
enrage the boar and result in injuries to several in the party. Just when the boar had two
of them penned down and was ready to charge, Atalanta stepped up to the boar, looked him
straight in the eyes, and managed to get off the perfect shot, stunning him and
"saving their bacon". Mealeager rushed in
with his javelin and killed the stunned pig, becoming the hero of the hunt.
Whether motivated by his infatuation with the
young huntress or in genuine appreciation for her critical role in felling the boar,
Meleager did the right thing and insisted that it had been Atalanta's first blow
that had allowed him the victory, and that she should have the pelt and he would keep the
tusks.
Never mind that she had literally saved them
from becoming pig-feed, the chauvinists in the party were sore losers and protested the
pelt being given to a woman. (This led to a fight between the men and, eventually led to
the death of Meleager -- but let's get back to the story of Atalanta.)
By this time Atalanta was becoming quite a
celebrity, known for both her beauty and her bravery.
There were plenty of men seeking her hand in marriage, though she swore to
remain single until she was ready to marry and vowed that she would pick her own husband,
thank you very much!
Her father, the king,
finally put his foot down and insisted she marry, but she negotiated a compromise. She agreed to willingly marry any man who could
outrun her in a race and that she would even handicap herself by giving him a head start
and by running while she was weighted down by her heavy sword.
Hoping to dissuade men from even applying for the
privilege of competing with her, she added one stipulation . . . that she would behead the
hapless unarmed suitor if and when she passed him in the race. So the stakes for a man were very high indeed!
But she was so lovely and even-tempered that
countless young nobles signed up to race for her anyway.
Atalanta, determined to make her own choices about who and when she would
wed, ran like the wind, her long golden hair waving in the breeze behind her. Many men
perished in the race against her.
But one young man, Hippomenes, who was helping
judge the races thought that the suitors must be fools to risk their lives. At least
that's what he thought until Atalanta disrobed and approached the starting blocks in her
appropriate, but scanty, running togs. Now he too was enamored, but since he was more of a
thinker than an athlete he knew he'd never stand a chance of winning.
A smart lad, though, he pleaded his case with
Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and asked for her help.
Aphrodite was a bit miffed with Atalanta anyway since she'd always seemed so
reluctant to fall in love (which made Aphrodite look bad at her job, so to speak), so she
was more than happy to oblige.
Aphrodite gave Hippomenes three golden,
magical apples she picked from her own garden and gave him instructions to toss them in
Atalanta's path when she drew close to him in the race.
This he did, and each time Atalanta was intrigued by the radiant objects and
slowed down to scoop them up.
In some versions of the story, the handsome
young man and his innovative strategy so greatly impressed Atalanta that she intentionally
slowed down and let him win. When he
collapsed in exhaustion after being the first to cross the finish line, Atalanta helped
him up and told the spectators that she was glad that he'd won.
They walked hand in hand to the king who
married them and gave them a large her of valuable horses as a wedding present. Atalanta and her husband then traveled to his
country where great celebrations were held to welcome them.
With all that they had to do they overlooked
something important they forgot to pay homage to one of the gods or goddesses. In one account it was Zeus, the mighty king of the
Olympians. In another, and saucier, version
there was not even a brief thank-you note sent to Aphrodite for the role she'd played in
arranging their togetherness. Aphrodite was
miffed by their neglect and decided to play a prank on them, inflaming them with
insatiable desire for each other.
Unfortunately, the trick got out-of-hand and
they ended up making mad, passionate love right in the middle of a temple. Rhea, the
goddess whose temple they had profaned, was furious and persuaded Zeus to turn them into
lions, which she yoked to pull her chariot.
Zeus, recognizing the greatness of their
love for each other, showed compassion and turned them into a constellation of
stars, thus allowing the couple to remain together, racing through the heavens, side by
side forever.
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