The Story of the Calydonian Boar Hunt in Greek Mythology

The Hunt for the Calydonian Boar is an ancient Greek myth that unites some of the most renowned heroes from pre-Trojan mythology to defeat a boar sent by a vengeful goddess threatening to destroy the lands of Calydon. This often-neglected legend connects the quest of Jason and the Argonauts with the epic feats of the Trojan War. Despite the presence of these famous heroes, only Atalanta, with her sharp eyes, and brave Melenger, manage to injure the beast.

The initial spark that led to the great hunt began with a jealous Olympian. Oeneus, the King of Calydon, was a just ruler devoted to the worship of Dionysus. As a reward for his piety, Dionysus gave the King a magical grapevine and taught him the art of winemaking.

The divine grapevine yielded a bountiful harvest, and every year, Oeneus sacrificed the juiciest grapes to the twelve Olympian gods. However, one year the pious King forgot to provide a sacrifice to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

Artemis, the chaste huntress of the wilderness, would not let such a slight to her honor and dignity go unpunished. To avenge the insult, she sent a monstrous boar to ravage and destroy the lands of Calydon.

The gigantic beast had razor-sharp tusks that rivaled an elephant’s in size and an unquenchable appetite. It devoured livestock, crops, vineyards, and even the poor citizens of Calydon. The boar also took pleasure in destroying homes, wells, and barns, removing all evidence of civilization and returning the lands to the wild embrace of Artemis.

Refugees from all over the Kingdom fled to the city, seeking help from their King. They warned him that famine would soon ravage the land if nothing was done. To get rid of a boar that plagued his Kingdom, Oeneus organized a large hunting party and asked for help throughout the Greek-speaking world.

Numerous heroes responded to his call for help, and within a month, some of the most renowned figures from Greek mythology gathered in Calydon for the hunt. The person who killed the boar would get the pelt and tusks as a reward. However, for many who answered, the real prize was the chance to slay the Calydonian Boar and become immortalized in history as a great hero.

Ancient writers documented at least 50 participants in the hunt, but different versions add and subtract names and characters. Despite this, a few key figures consistently appear in most versions.

The renowned hero Theseus and his best friend Pirithous both joined the hunt. Theseus founded Athens and was responsible for slaying the Minotaur as well as the Crommyonian Sow, who was believed to be the mother of the Calydonian Boar.

The sons of King Thestios, known as the Thestiades, who were Oeneus’s brothers-in-law, also took part in the hunt. The names and numbers of Thestiades brothers vary in mythological accounts, with the most popular being Toxeus, Pelexippus, Hypermnestra, and Eurypylus.

Many who responded to Oeneus’ call were former Argonauts who had recently returned from their epic adventure to retrieve the golden fleece. Jason himself was among them, and like many heroes, he found it difficult to adjust to a life of peace and eagerly joined the hunt.

Other notable Argonauts who joined the hunt were Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, who had not yet undergone the adventure leading to their unique shared immortality. They were accompanied by their crew members Peleus, the father of Achilles, and his brother Telamon, the father of Ajax the Great. The group also included other notable Argonauts: Prince Ancaeus, Euryton King of Pithia, and a young Nestor, who would later become the wise counselor of the Trojan War.

Some of the most well-known figures in Greek legend participated in the great hunt. However, the two primary protagonists of the hunt were its leader, Meleager, the son of Oeneus, nephew of the Thestiades and a fellow Argonaut, and the swift huntress Atalanta. But who were they?

In many Greek myths, the heroes are initially outcasts, often abandoned by their parents and left to die in the wilderness. This happens because of a dark prophecy or curse or sometimes due to the cruel whims of their parents. In such stories, the innocent child is saved by loving foster parents or raised by wild animals. Atalanta is one such hero. Her mother was Clymene of the Minyad clan in Boeotia, and her father was an Arcadian King named Iasus or Schoeneus.

Atalanta was born to a father who was deeply disappointed to have a daughter instead of a son. He decided to leave his newborn daughter to die of exposure on Mount Parthenion. However, less than an hour after being abandoned by her father’s servants, Atalanta’s crying caught the attention of a mountain resident.

A large bear found Atalanta and took her in, caring for her as if she were her cub. Some versions of the story suggest that the bear had recently lost her cub and, driven by maternal instincts, chose to care for Atalanta instead. Others claim that the mother bear was sent by Artemis, who saw a greater destiny for Atalanta.

After being rescued by the mother bear, the baby was later found and taken away by a group of hunters. The men doted on the girl and raised her as their own, giving her the name Atalanta, which means “equal in weight.” This name suggests that the hunters saw her as an equal in skill and ability.

Atalanta’s hunting and archery skills surpassed those of her found family over the years. Her speed was unparalleled, and no one could match Atalanta’s swiftness until Achilles came along a generation later. Atalanta’s natural talent as a huntress and child of the wilderness made her a devoted follower of Artemis, and she pledged herself entirely to her virgin goddess, promising never to marry.

In one tale, Atalanta was ambushed by two centaurs famous for their speed and skills with the bow. However, Atalanta was quicker and more skilled than them. Before the centaurs could even raise their bows, Atalanta had already loosed two arrows, hitting each centaur faster than their eyes could see. As a result, Atalanta’s reputation soared, and soon, all of Greece had heard stories about the beautiful but shy huntress devoted to Artemis, who surpassed all men in speed and archery.

Meleager was the son of King Oeneus and Queen Althaea, sister of the Thestiades. However, despite being King Oeneus’s son, Meleager’s actual father was Ares, the god of war. Meleager was a member of the Argonauts and was eager to lead the Boar hunt on his father’s behalf. Unfortunately, Meleager was unaware that he had been cursed for most of his life.

Seven days after Meleager’s birth, his mother, Althaea, had a strange dream. In her dream, she saw her newborn son lying in his cot beside the fire in her chambers. The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted when the Moirai (the three fates) appeared over the sleeping baby. The fates are responsible for spinning and weaving the life threads of all mortals. They declared Meleager would grow up to be a noble and brave man, but they also warned that the child would only live as long as the central log on the nearby fire remained unconsumed by flames.

Althaea awoke, unsure if she had been dreaming or if fate chose to meddle in her family’s life. She ran to the fireplace, plucked the yet-unburned log from the fire, and dropped the log into a vat of water. The Queen then wrapped the log in blankets and, in the middle of the night, crept to the palace basement with its earth floors and buried the log deep in the ground. Althaea returned to bed, knowing that her son may live for an eternity as long as the log remained buried.

King Oeneus and Queen Althaea held nine nights of feasting to celebrate the hunters before they slew the beast. As everyone arrived, Atalanta’s presence drew attention. She was a tall and striking woman dressed in animal skins, carrying a bow on her shoulder and followed by her pack of hunting dogs. This caused a stir, especially among Meleager’s uncles, the Thestiades.

The Thestiades proclaimed that hunting was men’s work and unsuitable for women. A claim highlighting the cognitive dissonance of men living in a society whose personification of hunting was Artemis, a woman. The Thestiades argued that women lacked the skills to aim, throw, or keep up with men. With a grave smile, Atalanta picked up one of the Thestiades with one arm and raised him in the air, proposing that they test their abilities to see what men and women were capable of.

Atalanta and the Thestiades competed to determine who could throw a spear farthest, who possessed superior precision with a bow, and who was the fastest in a footrace. Atalanta prevailed in each challenge, settling any disagreement about her eligibility to participate in hunting.

Atalanta’s exceptional performance and stunning beauty left Meleager smitten during the contest. Although already married to Cleopatra, the daughter of his fellow Argonaut named Idas, Meleager fell in love with Atalanta. Despite protests from Thestiades and many others, Meleager insisted that Atalanta join the hunt. However, Atalanta was a devotee of Artemis and had no interest in love or marriage. She made this explicitly clear to the enchanted prince. However, her presence caused tension and disagreement among many hunters, especially the embarrassed Thestiades.

The Calydonian Boar was a massive creature, and any doubts the hunters may have had about its size were quickly dispelled as they traveled across the devastated Calydon countryside. Meleager and his uncles, the Thestiades, who were all experienced hunters, devised a plan to trap the boar. They planned to encircle and then pin the beast down using flaming torches, nets, sharp spears, and loud noise. This would leave the boar with no means of escape. Once trapped, the hunters would attack, hoping that one of them would land the killing blow.

It took all morning to coax the boar into the hunter’s trap. Everything seemed to be going according to plan; the beast was entirely encircled by some of the bravest heroes in the Greek world. The brave and loyal hunting dogs were the first to attack the colossal Boar. They swarmed around it, but their teeth found no purchase. The Boar quickly shook them off and impaled several dogs with its deadly tusks in the process.

Unfortunately, the initial attack didn’t weaken the monster but stoked its bloodlust. As the hunters closed in, they could see the Boars flaming red eyes shining even brighter as it took in its predicament.

The Bloodbath

Seizing the moment, Meleager threw a net over the boar and called all the hunters to attack. However, Meleager’s net did little to hinder the boar’s ferocity. The following moments can only be described as a devastating bloodbath.

The first hunter to attack was Echion, but his spear bounced off the boar’s thick hide. Jason then hurled a spear at the beast but overshot, missing entirely. After the first few failures, a chaotic panic took hold of the hunters. The boar’s razor-sharp tusks ripped through oncoming hunters in an explosion of blood and viscera. Within a few terrifying seconds, the boar killed the hunters Hippalmus, Pelagon, and Enaesimus.

Amid the chaos, Peleus missed the boar and fatally wounded his friend Euryton with his spear. The hunters saw the accident as an ill omen and broke from the encircled line they had arduously established, leaving the boar free to charge.

The beast then ran toward Nestor, who may not have made it to Troy without his quick thinking. He used his spear to vault into a nearby tree, escaping the boar’s deadly tusks. The Dioscuri then charged the monster on horseback with spears and may have struck their target had the boar not rushed into the nearby trees for cover. Telemon ran after it into the woods, only to trip and fall on a root. The father of Ajax the Great may have perished there had his brother Peleus not pulled him to safety.

As the hunters panicked, Atalanta remained calm and waited patiently for the perfect opportunity. She fired an arrow and finally hit the distracted boar behind the ear. Atalanta was the first to draw blood, impressing Meleager, who announced it to the panicked hunters. This boosted the morale of the many hunters who did not want to lose out on the glory, especially to a woman.

When Meleager spoke, he managed to bring order among the scattered hunters. They launched a second attack against the beast. The first to engage the boar was the overconfident Ancaeus, who declared he would not lose to Atalanta. He attacked the boar with his axe, but unfortunately, he was gored and torn asunder by the beast.

Pirithous then attempted to charge the boar, but Theseus held him back. Theseus had seen Ancaeus die a brutal death, and he didn’t want to lose his friend, too. Anxious for his friend’s safety, Theseus missed the boar with his spear and instead hit a maple tree. Jason made another attempt to attack the boar, but this time, he undershot, killing an innocent hunting dog.

Only keen-eyed Atalanta had managed to injure the beast so far. The boar had made a mockery of some of the most renowned heroes of the Greek world. However, Meleager refused to be disheartened and hurled two spears at the beast. One missed and sank deep into the earth, but the other found its target and pierced the boar’s back.

A fountain of blood spurted from the boar as Meleager seized the opportunity to charge and stab the creature with all his might in its side. The beast staggered and collapsed with one final roar of anger and pain. After so much death and humiliation, Meleager had finally slain the Calydonian Boar.

With the boar defeated, all that was left to do was for Meleager to take its tusks and pelt as his reward. However, Meleager declined and declared that the trophies should go to Atalanta as she was the first to injure the beast. Meleager’s logic confused the hunters, and the gesture was likely an attempt by the lovestruck prince to win the heart of the huntress.

Meleager’s gesture infuriated his uncles, the Thestiades. Although they had noticeably stayed out of the fight against the boar, they declared that if Meleager did not want trophies, they should go to them to preserve their family’s honor.

The angered Thestiades argued that Atalanta’s first shot did not deserve such recognition and reiterated their belief that women should serve men at home rather than seek glory in combat. The uncles accused Atalanta of witchcraft and claimed that she used magic to seduce their nephew into awarding her the honors and trophies.

Atalanta seemed indifferent to Meleager’s gesture and paid little attention to the narrow-minded accusations of the Thestiades. However, Meleager, son of Ares, was furious at his uncle’s allegations and, just like his father was prone to do, flew into a blinding rage. Meleager screamed that he would teach his uncles the true meaning of honor. The prince unsheathed his blade, deftly killing all of his uncles.

A Mother’s Anger and a Sister’s Love

As the last of the Thestiades fell dead, crowds of people from the city arrived at the scene, eager to see the carcass of the monster that had been ravaging their homeland. Among them was Queen Althaea, excited to see how her son Meleager and her brothers, the Thestiades, had fared during the hunt. However, fate had a different plan for Althaea, as she arrived just in time to witness her son slaughter her brothers.

The sight of her brother’s death sent Althaea into a grief-filled rage. She returned to the palace without saying a word. After killing her brothers, her son did not deserve to live, and Althaea would ensure this. She entered the palace’s basement and retrieved the wrapped log she had buried many years earlier. Althaea then tossed the meagre log into the fire the servants had prepared to roast the defeated boar.

The queen instantly regretted her action as she saw the flames engulfing the log. She tried to remove it, but the flames were too hot. She could hear the joyful cries of the hunting party who had returned. Among the hunters, she heard Meleager’s voice. Perhaps for a brief moment, she thought that the curse proclaimed by the fates was just a strange dream. However, the three sisters of fate are never wrong. As Althaea approached the hunters, she heard her son screaming.

Meleager started shouting that he was burning. The prince began to roll on the floor and cried out for water to put out the fire. Everyone in the room was confused and helpless. They could see no flames or smoke coming from him. Before any action could be taken, Meleager, the slayer of the Calydonian Boar, with one final cry of pain, fell silent, and his body disintegrated into charr and ash.

Consumed by pain and grief, Althaea ran into the woods. A few hours later, she was found hanging from a tree branch, still clutching the blanket with which she had wrapped the ill-fated log.

In one day, King Oeneus experienced a rollercoaster of events. He witnessed his kingdom being saved by his darling son, only to then helplessly watch him die. To make matters worse, he then discovered that his wife had committed suicide. He didn’t know that this was part of Artemis’s plan. The goddess of the hunt sought revenge for being overlooked by Oeneus. Sending the boar to ravage his Kingdom was only the first step of her scheme.

Artemis had sent Atalanta, her most devoted follower, to sow discord and create chaos and tension among the hunters without her knowledge. It is possible that Artemis orchestrated Melenger’s sudden love for Atalanta. The hunters’ panic and failures may have been a divine misfortune sent by the goddess of the hunt. Even Meleager’s confrontation with the Thesiades may have been fueled by the goddess. The ill-fated arrival of Althaea, who witnessed her son kill her brothers, and the overwhelming grief that followed were also subtle manipulations by Artemis.

Artemis was still furious with Oeneus, and as a final act of revenge, she transformed four of his six grieving daughters, known as the Meleagrids, into guineafowl. She then transported them to the island of Leros. However, Artemis spared two of the Meleagrids, Groge and Deianira, because they were destined to marry Andraemon and the famous Heracles, respectively.

The hunt for the Calydonian Boar had left a bitter aftertaste for the all-star cast of heroes who had journeyed from distant lands to join it. For many, the hunt would be an uneasy afterthought in their otherwise epic and tragic adventures.

Atalanta left Calydon and its grieving King, never to return. In some accounts, she takes the boar trophies and dedicates them to Artemis in one of her sacred temples, while in others, she leaves the ill-fated prize with King Oeneus.

Atalanta’s fame now preceded her, and she was invited back home by the father who had left her to die on a mount so many years ago. The king was now all too happy to have a daughter, especially one as famous as Atalanta. It seems fate ensured that the cruel man never sired any other children after he abandoned Atalanta, so he informed the huntress that his kingdom was hers once she married.

Atalanta, a devout follower of Artemis, refused to marry. According to some versions of the story, years before the boar hunt, Atalanta consulted an oracle who prophesied that marriage would be her undoing. However, to silence her persistent father, she agreed to marry — but only to the man who could beat her in a footrace. If they failed to beat her, they would be killed.

Potential suitors throughout Greece eagerly raced against Atalanta to win her hand in marriage. However, Atalanta was the fastest mortal in the Greek world and easily beat all of them, ensuring their deaths. Atalanta hoped that, in time, the line of potential grooms would dry up after accepting the impossibility of ever outmatching her speed.

Everything seemed to go according to Atalanta’s plan until an unassuming man named Hippomenes challenged her to a race. Hippomenes had fallen in love with Atalanta at first sight and knew that he could never win a race against her. The infatuated man sought the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and spent all night praying at one of her temples. Aphrodite, maybe wanting to get back at a devotee of the virgin goddess Artemis, was more than willing to assist Hippomenes.

The goddess of love told Hippomenes to look behind her altar and use what he found there to win the race. Hippomenes found three golden apples behind the altar and then set off to challenge Atalanta. As Atalanta readied herself for the race, she was at ease; although handsome, her new challenger was an inexperienced runner awkwardly standing at the starting line with a heavy-looking satchel slung over his shoulder.

When the race began, Atalanta darted ahead, leaving Hippomenes in the dust. However, as Atalanta sprinted forward, she noticed a golden apple roll before her. She stopped, picked it up, still confident of her lead, and marveled at its beauty. As Atalanta studied the irresistible fruit, she noticed her panting challenger overtake her.

Atalanta took off again, but every time she overtook Hippomenes, he rolled another golden apple in front of her, which she was compelled to stop and collect. With the help of the apples, Hippomenes was able to beat Atalanta and win the foot race. In time, the two were married and had a son, Parthenopaios, who would later become one of the seven against Thebes.

However, prophecy and the wrath of a slighted goddess would later end Atalanta. Hippomenes did not correctly thank Aphrodite for her assistance in the footrace. Many years later, while the couple was hunting, they visited a temple of either Zeus or Cybele. While inside the temple, Aphrodite cast a spell of sexual passion on the couple, causing them to commit a blasphemous act by making love within the sacred temple.

As a result of this blasphemy, either Zeus or Cybele transformed both Atalanta and Hippomenes into lions. The oracle’s prediction came true, and love and marriage brought an end to Atalanta, the Greek hero who defied the expectations of her time.