Meleager (mythology)
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Meleagros ( Greek Μελέαγρος Meléagros ) is in Greek mythology the son of Althaia and Oineus , the king of Kalydon . His siblings are Tydeus and Deianeira . He and his wife Cleopatra had a daughter named Polydora .
Seven days after the birth of Meleager, the three moirs, Klotho , Lachesis and Atropos, appeared . The latter announced to Althaia that her son lives as long as the log burning on the stove is not consumed by the fire. Althaia put out the fire and saved the piece of wood to keep Meleagros alive.
At a young age he took part in the Jason’s voyage as one of the Argonauts with Laocoon . He won the javelin throw at the funeral games of Akastus.
When he returned to his homeland, Kalydon , the Calydonian boar was up to mischief. Artemis , the goddess of the hunt, had sent him to punish Althaia and Oineus for forgetting a sacrifice for them. Meleagros called his companions together to hunt. The participants were Jason , Kastor , Pollux , Idas , Lynkeus , Peleus , Admetos , Peirithoos , Theseus and Atalante . Atalante was the first to injure the animal, then Meleagros gave the pig the fatal blow. Meleagros left the animal's hide to Atalante, but the brothers of Althaia became jealous and stole the trophy. Meleagros, enraged, then killed his own relatives, whereupon Althaia burned the log in revenge. As a result, Meleager died as predicted by Atropos.
literature
- Peter Grossardt : The story of Meleagros. On the literary development of the Calydonian cult legend . Leiden 2001 ( Mnemosyne Supplement 215)
- Ernst Kuhnert : Meleagros . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.2, Leipzig 1897, Col. 2591-2622 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- "Meleager and the boar hunt" in Gustav Schwab, legends of classical antiquity from Project Gutenberg-DE
