Source Verification: Atalanta
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
What was Atalanta known for?
Speed, hunting and a deadly footrace. Apollodorus's Library says she was the first to shoot the Calydonian boar, and that Meleager gave her its skin. He adds that she wrestled Peleus at the funeral games for Pelias and won. She is best remembered for racing her suitors and killing those she caught. Ovid's Metamorphoses says she outran swift-footed men, and that no one could say whether her speed or her beauty deserved more praise.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.9.2
Who fell in love with Atalanta?
Meleager and the man who won her race. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Meleager longs for her the moment he sees her at the Calydonian hunt. Apollodorus says he even hoped for a child by her, although he was married. Her husband's name depends on the source. Apollodorus calls him Melanion, who ran for love of her. Ovid and Hyginus call him Hippomenes. Apollonius of Rhodes adds that Jason kept her off the Argo, fearing strife on account of love.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 1.8.2
Did Atalanta love Hippomenes?
In Ovid's version, yes, before she understood it. When Hippomenes steps forward to race, Atalanta argues with herself. She pities him, wishes he had never seen her, and hopes he may prove the swifter. Ovid says she loves and does not know she is in love. During the race she slows to look at his face before passing him. Apollodorus and Hyginus tell the race without saying anything about her feelings.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.560-680
Who is Atalanta in Greek mythology?
She is an Arcadian huntress who hunts and competes alongside the great heroes. Apollodorus's Library says she was exposed at birth, nursed by a she-bear and raised by hunters. She hunted the Calydonian boar with Meleager and raced her suitors for her hand. Her father is Iasus in one passage of Apollodorus but Schoeneus in two others, as in Ovid and Hyginus. Ancient writers never settled on one answer.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.9.2
Did Atalanta sail with the Argonauts?
The sources disagree. Apollodorus's Library includes Atalanta, daughter of Schoeneus, in its list of the heroes who gathered for Jason's voyage. Apollonius of Rhodes, whose Argonautica is the fullest account of the voyage, leaves her out on purpose. He says she gave Jason a spear as a guest-gift in Maenalus and eagerly wanted to follow. Jason himself stopped her, because he feared bitter strife on account of love.
Source: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.769-773
Why were Atalanta and her husband turned into lions?
Because they made love in a sacred place. Apollodorus says only that they entered a precinct of Zeus while hunting and were changed into lions. In Ovid's Metamorphoses the cause is Venus. Hippomenes forgot to thank her for the apples, so she drove him to lie with Atalanta in a shrine of the Mother of the Gods. Cybele then turned them into lions to draw her chariot. Hyginus blames Venus too, but makes Jupiter the god who transforms them.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.686-704
Where Accounts Differ
- who was Atalanta's father
- whether her husband was Melanion or Hippomenes
- whether Atalanta sailed with the Argonauts
- whose shrine the couple profaned and who punished them
- the rules of the footrace
- who fathered Parthenopaeus
- who struck the Calydonian boar first
- Her father is named differently, even within one author. Apollodorus (Library 3.9.2) makes her the daughter of Iasus and Clymene, and Callimachus (Hymn to Artemis 215-224) calls her daughter of Arcadian Iasius. Yet Apollodorus's own lists of the boar hunters (1.8.2) and of the Argonauts (1.9.16) call her daughter of Schoeneus. Apollodorus (3.9.2) reports that Hesiod and others named Schoeneus and that Euripides named Maenalus. Ovid (Metamorphoses 10) and Hyginus (Fabulae 185) call her Schoeneus's daughter.
- Her husband is Melanion in Apollodorus (Library 3.9.2), who reports that Euripides called him Hippomenes. Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.560-680) and Hyginus (Fabulae 185) call him Hippomenes, son of Megareus. Pausanias (5.19.2) describes Melanion beside her on the chest of Cypselus.
- Apollodorus (Library 1.9.16) lists her among the Argonauts. Apollonius of Rhodes (Argonautica 1.769-773) says Jason refused to take her, fearing strife on account of love.
- The sacrilege and the god who punished it vary. Apollodorus (Library 3.9.2) places it in a precinct of Zeus. Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.686-704) places it at a shrine of the Mother of the Gods, and Cybele transforms them. Hyginus (Fabulae 185) places it in a shrine of Jupiter the Victor on Parnassus, with Venus causing the desire and Jupiter the transformation.
- The race itself differs. Apollodorus (Library 3.9.2) has her run armed behind each suitor and kill him on the spot if caught. Hyginus (Fabulae 185) has the suitor run unarmed while she pursues with a weapon, and the losers' heads set up in the stadium. Ovid (Metamorphoses 10.560-680) says only that the slow suitor paid with death.
- Parthenopaeus's father is Melanion or Ares in Apollodorus (Library 3.9.2), but Meleager in Hyginus (Fabulae 70 and 99), who says she exposed the child on Mount Parthenius. Euripides (Phoenissae 145-155) calls Parthenopaeus Atalanta's son without naming a father.
- Who struck the boar first is also disputed. Apollodorus (Library 1.8.2) and Pausanias (8.45.2) give first blood to Atalanta. Apollodorus (1.8.3) reports a variant in which the sons of Thestius claimed that Iphiclus hit it first.
Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 3.9.2
- Apollodorus, Library 1.8.2
- Apollodorus, Library 1.8.3
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.16
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.260-327
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.380-444
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.560-680
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.686-704
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.769-773
- Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis 215-224
- Euripides, Phoenissae 145-155
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.45.2
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.45.6
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.35.10
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.19.2
- Hyginus, Fabulae 185
- Hyginus, Fabulae 173
- Hyginus, Fabulae 99
- Hyginus, Fabulae 70