There was a custom in Calydon as there was in many lands
That
the first fruits of the harvest be sacrificed to the goddess
Unfortunately,
one summer King Oeneus made the mistake
Albeit
accidentally of omitting to make a sacrifice to Artemis
Artemis,
furious at Oeneus's negligence reeked vengeance
And
sent down the most enormous wild boar to Calydon
The
Boar ravaged Calydon, destroying everything in its path
Oeneus
called in Atalanta and the noblest men to take it on
The
King’s own brothers and his son Meleager joined the hunt
The
Boars skin was offered as trophy to the one who killed it
Many
of the men were unhappy fighting alongside a woman
Atalanta
was a great huntress and she fought where she saw fit
Despite
his being married Meleager was in love with Atalanta
And
he convinced his uncles and the others they should follow
Atalanta
was the first to see the beast, and quickest to shoot
Amphiaraus
followed suit hitting the beast’s eye with an arrow
Meleager,
was a fearless young dare-devil and took his chance
An
excellent hunter he took his spear and gorged the Boar
But
the great boar was big enough that it kept charging at him
And
would have killed him but for the quick action of Atalanta
Meleager
won the Boars skin and the credit for the beasts kill
But
such was his infatuation with Atalanta he gave it to her
But
the other hunters didn't like the idea of a mere woman
Getting
the prize instead of a man no matter how good a hunter
The
loudest of the protesters were Meleager's own uncles
And
they declared that if he didn't want the great boar skin
That
was quite acceptable, but it could not go to Atalanta
And
by the right of blood, it should go to one of his own kin
Meleager
in his anger fought and killed all of his uncles
And
then he presented the prized boar’s skin to Atalanta
His
mother Althea unable to forgive him for his actions
Was
so distraught in her grief she killed her son Meleager
No comments:
Post a Comment