Meleager

mel-e-a'jer, in Greek legend, the son of Oeneus, king of Calydon, and Althea, his wife. When her child was born the three Fates appeared to Althea and foretold that his life should last no longer than the brand then burning on the hearth. Althea seized the brand, quenched the flame, and concealed the half consumed wood that she might thus preserve the life of her son. Meleager grew to be a brave and handsome youth. His father Oeneus offended Diana by omitting to pay her honor when he sacrificed to the gods. As a punishment, Diana sent an enormous wild boar to devastate the fields of Calydon. The crops were laid waste, the flocks and herds thrown into confusion, and many animals slain. The boar could not be routed by any ordinary means. At last Meleager called together the heroes of Greece determined to hunt the boar to the death. Theseus, Pirithous, Jason, Peleus, Nestor, and many others joined the hunt. Among them came Atalanta, the beautiful maiden devoted to Diana and the chase. The hunters pursued the boar to a marsh where he turned and attacked them. Several were slain. Jason touched the beast with his spear but failed to wound him. Nestor had to climb a tree to escape death. At last one of Atalanta's arrows inflicted a wound that drew blood, and Meleager, aroused to the highest pitch of daring, rushed forward and thrust his spear into the monster's side. Meleager was praised and honored by his comrades, but when he bestowed the head and hide of the boar upon Atalanta envy was excited. Meleager's uncles, Plexippus and Toxeus, snatched the trophy from the maiden's hands. Meleager, angered by this insult, slew his uncles.

When Althea learned that her son had slain her brothers she was overcome with grief and horror. She ordered a fire to be prepared and, bringing forth the fatal brand she had so carefully hidden, she cast it upon the flames. Then, overcome by what she had done, she took her own life. Meleager, as the fire burned, felt its consuming force in his own body and breathed his last as the brand sank into ashes. His sisters mourned for him so inconsolably that Diana in pity changed them into birds.