MELEAGER

MELEAGER, in fabulous history, a celebrated hero, the son of Oeneus, king of Calydonia, by Althea, daughter of Thetis. The Parcae were present at the moment of his birth, and predicted his future greatness. Clothio said that he would be brave and courageous; Lachesis foretold his uncommon strength and valour; and Atropos declared that he should live as long as that firebrand, which was on the fire, remained entire and unconsumed. Althea no sooner heard this, than she snatched the stick from the fire, and kept it with the most jealous care, as the life of her son totally depended upon its preservation. The fame of Meleager increased with his years. He signalized himself in the Argonautic expedition, and afterwards delivered his country from the neighbouring inhabitants, who made war against his father at the instigation of Diana, whose altars Oeneus had neglected. But Diana punished the negligence of Oeneus by a greater calamity. She sent a wild boar, which laid waste all the country, and seemed invincible on account of its immense size. It soon became a public concern; all the neighbouring princes assembled to destroy this terrible animal; and nothing is more famous in mythological history, than the hunting of the Calydonian boar. The princes and chiefs who assembled, were Meleager son of Oeneus, Idas and Lynceus sons of Aphareus, Dryas son of Mars, Castor and Pollux sons of Jupiter and Leda, Pithous son of Ixion, Theseus son of Ægeus, Aeneus and Cepheus sons of Lycurgus, Admetus son of Phereus, Jason of Æson, Peleus and Telamon sons of Æacus, Iphicles son of Amphitryon, Eurytion son of Actor, Atalanta daughter of Schœneus, Iolas the friend of Hercules, the sons of Thetis, Amphiarus son of Oileus, Protheus, Cometes, the brothers of Althea, Hippothous son of Cercyon, Leucippus, Adrastus, Ceneus, Phileus, Echion, Lelex, Phoenix son of Amyntor, Panopeus, Hyleus, Hippasus, Nestor, Menectius the father of Patroclus, Amphicides, Laertes the father of Ulysses, and the four sons of Hippocoon. This troop of armed men attacked the boar, which was at last killed by Meleager. The conqueror gave the skin and the head to Atalanta, who had first wounded the animal. This irritated the rest, and particularly Toxeus and Plexippus the brothers of Althea, and they endeavoured to rob Atalanta of the honourable present. Meleager defended her, and killed his uncles in the attempt. Meantime the news of this celebrated conquest had already reached Calydon, and Althea went to the temple of the gods to return thanks for the victory which her son had gained; but being informed that her brothers had been killed by Meleager, she in a moment of resentment threw into the fire the fatal stick on which her son's life depended, and Meleager died as soon as it was consumed. As Homer does not mention the firebrand, and some have hence imagined that this fable is posterior to that poet's age. But he informs us, that the death of

Meleager Toxeus and Plexippus so irritated Althaea, that she uttered the most horrible curses and imprecations upon her son's head.