Meleager and Atalanta
Artist: Copied after Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
Date: ca. 1635-1637
Medium: Oil on panel
Collection: Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Description
The story of Atalanta and Meleager is told by the Roman poet Ovid in Metamorphoses. Meleager was the son of Ares and Althaea. The Fates had predicted that Meleager would die if a log, burning on the hearth when he was born, were to be put back on the fire.
The goddess Artemis or Diana was infuriated by the King of Calydon's disrespect for her and had sent an enormous boar to ravage the fields of Calydon. Meleager and Atalanta hunted the Calydonian boar and fell in love during the hunt. When Meleager assisted by Atalanta killed the boar, he offered the boar's head to Atalanta as a gesture of love. Meleager's uncles were however deeply offended and in the fight that followed Meleager killed them. Meleager's mother Althaea became angry and placed the log she had hidden away since Meleager's birth back on the fire. As a result the Fates' prophecy came true and Meleager died.
