GREEK GOD
ATALANTA

In a sunny land in Greece called Arcadia

there lived a king and queen who had no children. They are very

want to have a son who might live to rule Arcadia when

the king died, and therefore, as time went on, they prayed to

Great Jupiter on the mountaintop to send them

son. After a while a child is born to them, but that is

it's a little girl. The father was very angry at Jupiter and all

people.

"What's the point of a girl?" her

said. "She could never do anything but sing,

turn around, and spend money. If the boy was a boy, he might have been

learn to do many things, - horseback riding, hunting, and fighting, - and

he will be king of Arcadia. But this girl will never be able to

be king."

Then he called one of his men

and asked her to take the baby to the mountain where there was nothing but stone

and the forest was thick, and left it there to be eaten by wild bears

who live in caves and shrubs. That would be the easiest way, though,

he said, to get rid of that useless little creature.

The man carried the child far up on the side

the mountain and placed it on top of a stretch of moss under the shadow of a rock

large. The boy reached out his baby hand towards her and smiled,

but he turned and left her there, for she did not dare

against king.

All night and all day baby

lying on his bed covered in moss, lamenting his mother; but

only the birds among the trees heard his cry

pitifully. Eventually he became very weak due to lack of food

so that he can only groan and move his head slightly from the side

to side. It will die before another day if no one takes care of it.

Just before dark on the second night, a

the female bear walks down the mountain side of her nest. She's out

looking for his son, because some hunters had stolen them that day

when he's away from home. He heard the little baby moan, and

wondering if it wasn't one of her missing children; and when

he saw her lying so helplessly on the moss, he went there

and look at him kindly. Could a small bear

transformed into a beautiful baby with fat white hands and with gold chains

the beautiful one on her neck? The old bear did not know; and when the child

it looked at him with its bright black eyes, he growled softly and

licked her face with her warm tongue and then lay on the

next to him, as he would do with his children

by oneself. The baby was too young to be frightened, and he curled up

close to an old bear and feel like you have found a friend. Subsequent to

some time he fell asleep; but the bear kept him until morning and

then down to the side of the mountain to look for food.

At night, before dark, the bear comes

again and bring the child to his own nest under the shade of the rock of the place

vines and wildflowers grew; and every day after that he

come and give the boy some food and play with him. And all

the bear on the mountain knew about the incredible child that had been found, the,

and came to see it; but none of them offered

to hurt him. And the little girl grew up fast and became

strong, and after a while can walk and run among the trees

and the rocks and the thorny bushes on the round mountaintops; but mother

his bear did not allow him to wander far from the nest under the rock

where vines and wildflowers grow.

One day some hunters came to the mountain

to look for the quarry, and one of them plucked the vines

growing up in front of the old bear's house. He was surprised to see a beautiful child

it was lying on the grass and playing with the flowers that had been

ingathering. But when he saw it, he jumped to his feet and ran

away like a frightened deer. He led the hunters to

it chased well between the trees and the rocks; but there were a dozen

of them, and not long after they caught him.

The hunters have never played the game

like it was before, and they were so satisfied that they didn't care

hunting again that day. The boy fought and fought as hard as he could

he knows, but it's useless. The hunters brought him down

the mountain, and brought him to the house where they lived on the other side

forestland. At first she was crying all the time, because she missed so much

the bear that had been a mother to him for so long. But the hunters

make her a great pet, and give her many beautiful things

to be played, and very well; and not long after he began

I like his new home.

The hunters named it

Atalanta, and when he grew up, they made him a bow and a child

arrows, and taught him how to shoot; and they gave him spears

light, and show her how to take it and how

throw it into the game or the enemy. Then they brought him along

they were when they went hunting, and nothing in this world was very

fun for him besides wandering the forest and chasing deer and animals

another wild. His legs became so fast that he could run

faster than any man; and his arms were so strong and his eyes

so sharp and true that with his arrow or his spear he never

missed the target. And she grew up to be very tall and graceful, and

known throughout Arcadia as a fast-footed hunter.

Now, not far from the land Arcadia exists

a small town called Calydon. It is located in the middle of the field

rich wheat and lush vineyards; but outside the garden

wine there was a deep dense forest where many ferocious beasts lived. Kings

Calydon was named OEneus, and he lived in the white palace with his wife Althea

and the boy and the girl. His kingdom is so small that

there wasn't much trouble organizing it, so he spent most of it

time to hunt or plow or care for the vine. Him

he was said to be a very brave man, and he was a friend of all

great heroes of that heroic time.

The two daughters of OEneus and Althea are famous in

the whole world because of their beauty; and one of them is a wife

the hero Hercules, who had freed Prometheus from his chains, and

doing many other great deeds. Six sons of OEneus and Althea

they are noble and handsome; but the noblest and

the most handsome of them all was Meleager, the youngest.

When Meleager was a new little baby

aged seven days, a strange thing happened in the white palace of the king. Queen

Althea awakens in the middle of the night, and sees a fire blazing in the

fireplaces. He wondered what that meant; and he lay still

next to the baby, and look and listen. Three strange women

standing by the fireplace. They were tall, and two of them were beautiful, and

the faces are all firm. Althea instantly knew that they were the Fate

give a gift to every child born, and that says whether

his life will be happy or full of sadness and sadness.

"What we give to the child

this is?" the oldest and most emphatic of the three

outlandish. His name was Atropos, and he held sharp scissors in his hand.

"I gave him a brave heart,"

said the youngest and prettiest. His name was Clotho, and he was holding a stick

full of flax, from which he spun golden threads.

"And I gave him a gentle thought and

noble," said the dark-haired man, named Lachesis. She was soft

pulling the thread that Clotho spun, and turning to the hard Atropos, the,

he said: "Get rid of the scissors, sister, and give the boy

your gift."

"I gave him life until this brand would

burned to ashes," was the answer; and Atropos took

a small piece of wood and put it on the coals.

The three sisters waited until

the stick lit up, and then they left. Althea jumps in with

quick one. He saw nothing but a fire in the fireplace and a stick

slowly light. He hurriedly poured water into the fire, and when each

the spark went out, he took out a charred stick and put it into the crate

the strong one where he keeps his treasure, and locks it.

"I know that the boy's life

safe," he said, "provided the stick doesn't burn."

So, as it goes

time, Meleager grew into a brave young man, so gentle and

noble so that his name was known in every Greek land. He does

many brave actions and, with other heroes, travel

famous for crossing the ocean in search of incredible golden feathers; and

OEneus is most valuable to be their king.

It happened one summer that

the vineyards of Calydon are more full of grapes than they are

before, and there was so much wheat in the fields that the people did not

know what to do with him.

"I'll tell you what to do

done," said King OEneus. “We will have a day of gratitude, and

we'll give you a portion of the grain and a portion of the fruits

to the Mighty Being who sits among the clouds at the top of the mountain. Because of

they are sunshine and sunny weather and humid wind and warm rain

have come; and without their help, we will never get

such a good harvest."

The next day the king and the men of Calydon

go to the fields and vineyards to offer thanks

them. Here and there they built little altars of grass and stone and

put dry grass and twigs on it; and then on top

the branches they put some of the largest bunches of wine and some

the best wheat heads, which they thought would please the Mighty Beings

they sent them so much.

There is an altar to Ceres, which has been

show man how to sow wheat, and one to Bacchus, who

had told them about the wine, and one for the legged Mercury

wings, which came in the clouds, and one for Athena, the queen of the air, and one

for the wind guard, and one for the light giver, and one for the driver

a golden sun car, and one for the king of the sea, and one of the largest of the

to Jupiter, the mighty thunder that sits at the top of the mountain and

world domination. And when all was ready, King OEneus gave

tidings, and the fire was touched to the grass and the branches on the altar; and

the grapes and wheat that were put there were burned. Then

people were screaming and dancing, because they thought that way

the thanks were sent directly to Ceres and Bacchus and Mercury

and Athena and the others. And in the night they came home with hearts

happy, feeling that they have done the right thing.

But they've forgotten one of the Beings

Mighty. They did not lift any altars for Diana, the beautiful hunter

and the queen of the forest, and they offered him not a single wine or a grain

wheat too. They do not mean to underestimate it; but,

to be honest, there were so many others they never thought of

about her.

I don't think Diana cares about me at all

fruit or grain; but it made him very angry to think

that he should be forgotten.

"I'll show them that I shouldn't be underestimated

this way," he said.

But everything went well, until

the following summer; and the people of Calydon were very pleased, because

there seems to be a bigger harvest than before.

"I say," said the old King OEneus,

while looking into his fields and vineyards, "paying to be grateful.

We'll give thanks again as soon as the wine starts to ripen."

But even then he did not think

Diana.

The next day the biggest and most beautiful wild boar

the ferocious that anyone had ever seen rushed out of the forest. Him

it has two long tusks sticking out far from its mouth on either side and

as sharp as a knife, and the stiff bristles on his back were as big and as long as needles

knitwork. As he walked towards Calydon, gnashed his teeth and

her mouth was foaming, she was a scary thing to see, I said

at you. Everyone ran away in front of him. He rushed to

the wheat field and tore all the wheat; he went into the vineyards

and tore down all the vines; he uprooted all the trees in

the garden; and, when there was nothing more to do, he went into the field

grass among the hills and kill the sheep that are looking for food

just there. He was so fierce and so agile that the most warriors

he dared hardly attack her. His thick skin is proof

against arrows and spears as the Calydonites had; and

I don't know how many people he killed with his fangs

that's horrible. For weeks she had her own way, and

the only safe place for anyone is inside the walls.

When he destroyed the whole country,

he returned to the edge of the forest; but the people were very afraid of him

so that they live in fear every day so that he does not come again

and knock down the city gates.

"We must have forgotten someone

when we gave thanks last year" said the King

Oeneus. "Who is that?"

And then she thought of Diana.

"Diana, the chase queen," he said,

"have sent this monster to punish us for forgetting about it. I

sure we'll remember it now as long as we live."

Then he sent

envoys to all countries near Calydon, asking for the bravest men

and the most skilled hunters to come at any given time and

help him hunt and kill the big boar. Very much of

these people have been with Meleager on a wonderful journey to

looking for the Golden Lamb Fur, and he was sure they would come.

When the day that King OEneus had set

arriving, there's an incredible group of people in Calydon. Greatest hero

the world is there; and every man is fully armed, and expected

it is a great sport for hunting wild boars

it's gruesome. Along with the fighters from the south came a girl

the tall ones are armed with bows and arrows and hunting spears

the long. That's our friend Atalanta, the hunter.

"My daughters are playing ball in

garden," said the old King OEneus. "Don't you want to get rid of

your arrows and spears, and go play with them?"

Atalanta shook his head and raised

his chin seemed to be underestimating.

"Maybe you'd rather stay with

queen, and see the woman spinning and weaving," said OEneus.

"No," replied Atalanta, "I

will go with the fighters to hunt wild boar in the forest!"

How all men open their eyes

they are! They had never heard of such a thing as a person

girl goes with hero to hunt boar.

"If he goes, then I won't

go" said one of them.

"I don't either" said another.

"Me too" said the

thirdly. "Well, the whole world will laugh at us, and we

never should have heard the end."

Some threatened to go home

all at once; and the two sisters of Queen Althea, men who are rude and not

politely, loudly declared that the hunt was for the heroes and

not for little girls.

But Atalanta just clasped his spear more

strong and standing, tall and straight, at the gate of the palace. That moment

a handsome young man came forward. It was Meleager.

"What's this?" her

crying out. "Who said Atalanta wouldn't go hunting? You're scared

he'll be braver than you. You're a beautiful hero! Let all

such a coward comes home at once."

But no one left, and then and there

it was decided that the girl should have her own way. However

the Queen Althea's brothers continued to mutter and complain.

For nine days

heroes and hunters feasted in the hall of King OEneus, and at the beginning of the tenth day

they go to the forest. Soon the big beast was found, and he

attacking enemies. The heroes hide behind the trees

or climb among the branches, for they do not expect to see

such a terrible creature. He stood in the middle of a small open space,

tearing the ground with its tusks. White foam came out from his mouth,

his eyes flashed red like fire, and he grumbled so loudly that

the forest and hills echoed with a terrifying voice.

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