by Cecilia Ryan

Created on: May 30, 2007

Atlanta was one of the greatest ancient Greek heroes. Her parentage is uncertain, but it is most widely accepted that she was the daughter of King Iasus and Clymene. Being female, she was taken into the wilderness at birth and left to die. Atlanta was a strong child however, and was raised by a bear as one of its cubs. As she grew older she began to spend time with hunters and was soon became the best of them all.

She loved hunting and the outdoors and had no use for a man in her life. She was quick to defend her virginity. When the centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus attempted to rape her she quickly killed them.
She tried to join Jason and the Argonauts, but Jason refused her request. This was no reflection on her skill, which she was renowned for, but because of her gender.

Her shooting skills allowed her to draw first blood during the Calydonian Boar Hunt. Her contribution to the hunt was marred when a quarrel over giving her a trophy of the hunt resulted in the death of Meleager and his uncles. This was exactly the kind of thing Jason was afraid of.

At the funeral games honoring Pelias, Atlanta entered the wrestling contests. Here she gained more fame by scoring a victory over Peleus.

She achieved enough that her Father forgave her for not being a son and allowed her to return home. Once there he attempted to fulfill his fatherly obligations by finding her a husband. For her to simply refuse might arouse dangerous resentment. Instead she proposed a test. The successful suitor would have to beat her in a foot race. Losing suitors would be beheaded by her. As Atlanta was one of the fastest mortals, this would seem to have insured her maidenhood.

This approach was quite successful, to the point where Atlanta started giving potential suitors a head start. However, no plan is perfect.

Melanion fell in love with her. He knew that he was not fast enough to win the race. So he did what many frustrated lovers have done. He prayed to Aphrodite for help in winning her over. Aphrodite has a weakness for lovers and a concern for those that reject romance to the degree that Atlanta did. Aphrodite presented Melanion with three golden apples, and a plan. In return Melanion was to sacrifice to Aphrodite.

Melanion then ran his race with Atlanta carrying the apples with him. When Atlanta caught up to him he tossed the first apple at her feet. The sight of the magic golden apple was irresistible to Atlanta. She stopped to pick it up confident that she could make up the time. Soon enough

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