MELEAGER (hero of the Calydonian hunt)
Hero and companion · son of Oeneus in Greek mythology, king of Calydon
Powers
He excelled in both physical strength and courage, and no other hero dared to fight him in war or strife. Diodorus 4.34 +1
In the myths
Meleager killed the Calydonian boar by stabbing it in the flank with a specific spear. Apollodorus 1.8.2 +3 Meleager handed the boar's skin over to Atalanta as the prize out of love. Apollodorus 1.8.2 +2 Meleager led a group of brave men to hunt the Calydonian boar and was the first to strike it with his javelin. Diodorus 4.34 +1 Meleager killed the sons of Thestius in a rage after they stole the skin from Atalante. Apollodorus 1.8.3 +1 In one version, Meleager initially refused to defend the city against the Curetes, but his subsequent presence in battle caused them to fail holding their ground. Apollodorus 1.8.3 +1 Meleager initially refused the pleas of his family and friends to fight, but eventually went to battle and donned his armour after his wife persuaded him by describing the horrors of capture. Apollodorus 1.8.3 +1
Fate
The Fates declared that Meleager would die when a specific hearth brand burned out. Apollodorus 1.8.2 +2 Some poems state Apollo killed Meleager with arrows while he fought the Curetes. Pausanias 10.31.3 +1 Meleager was dead at the time of the events described. Iliad 2 ΒΆ49 +1 Althaea burned the brand, causing Meleager to die. Apollodorus 1.8.3 +1
