"When I was younger than I am to-day," said the old chief, as they sat
one evening in the light of the blazing brands--"when I was much
younger than now, it was my fortune to take part in the most famous
boar hunt the world has ever known.
"There lived at that time, in Calydon, a mighty chief named
Oineus--and, indeed, I know not but that he still lives. Oineus was
rich in vineyards and in orchards, and no other man in all Greece was
happier or more blessed than he. He had married, early in life, the
Princess Althea, fairest of the maidens of Acarnania; and to them a son
had been born, golden-haired and beautiful, whom they called Meleager.
"When Meleager was yet but one day old, his father held him in his
arms, and prayed to Zeus and the mighty powers above: 'Grant, Father
Zeus, and all ye deathless ones, that this my son may be the foremost
among the men of Greece. And let it come to pass, that when they see
his valiant deeds, his countrymen shall say, "Behold, this youth is
greater than his father," and all of one accord shall hail him as their
guardian king.'
"Then his mother, Althea, weeping tears of joy, prayed that the boy
might grow up to be pure-minded and gentle, the hope and pride of his
parents, and the delight and staff of their declining years.
"Scarcely had the words of prayer died from her lips, when there came
into her chamber the three unerring Fates who spin the destinies of
men. White-robed and garlanded, they stood beside the babe, and with
unwearied fingers drew out the lines of his untried life. Clotho held
the golden distaff in her hand, and twirled and twisted the delicate
thread. Lachesis, now sad, now hopeful, with her long white fingers
held the hour-glass, and framed her lips to say, 'It is enough.' And
Atropos, blind and unpitying as the future always is, stood ready, with
cruel shears, to clip the twist in twain. Busily and silently Clotho
spun; and the golden thread, thin as a spider's web, yet beautiful as a
sunbeam, grew longer and more golden between her skilful fingers. Then
Lachesis cried out, 'It is finished!' But Atropos hid her shears
beneath her mantle, and said, 'Not so. Behold, there is a brand
burning upon the hearth. Wait until it is all burned into ashes and
smoke, and then I will cut the thread of the child's life. Spin on,
sweet Clotho!'
"Quick as thought, Althea sprang forward, snatched the blazing brand
from the hearth, and quenched its flame in a jar of water; and when she
knew that not a single spark was left glowing upon it, she locked it
safely in a chest where none but she could find it. As she did this,
the pitiless sisters vanished from her sight, saying as they flitted
through the air, 'We bide our time.'
"Meleager grew up to be a tall and fair and gentle youth; and when at
last he became a man, he sailed on the ship Argo, with Jason and the
great heroes of that day, in search of the Golden Fleece. Many brave
deeds were his in foreign lands; and when he came home again to
Calydon, he brought with him a fair young wife, gentle Cleopatra,
daughter of Idas the boaster.
"Oineus had gathered in his harvest; and he was glad and thankful in
his heart, because his fields had yielded plenteously; his vines had
been loaded with purple grapes, and his orchards filled with abundance
of pleasant fruit. Grateful, as men should always be, to the givers of
peace and plenty, he held within his halls a harvest festival, to which
he invited the brave and beautiful of all the country round. Happy was
this feast, and the hours were bright with smiles and sunshine; and men
forgot sorrow and labor, and thought only of the gladness of life.
"Then Oineus took of the first-fruits of his fields and his vineyards
and his orchards, and offered them with much thankfulness to the givers
of good. But he forgot to deck the shrine of Artemis with gifts,
little thinking that the huntress queen cared for anything which mortal
men might offer her. Ah, woful mistake was that! For, in her anger at
the slight, Artemis sent a savage boar, with ivory tusks and foaming
mouth, to overrun the lands of Calydon. Many a field did the monster
ravage, many a tree uproot; and all the growing vines, which late had
borne so rich a vintage, were trampled to the ground.
"Sadly troubled was Oineus, and he knew not what to do. For the fierce
beast could not be slain, but with his terrible tusks he had sent many
a rash hunter to an untimely death. Then the young man Meleager said,
'I will call together the heroes of Greece, and we will hunt the boar
in the wood of Calydon.'
"So at the call of Meleager, the warriors flocked from every land, to
join in the hunt of the fierce wild boar. Among them came Castor and
Pollux, the twin brothers; and Idas, the boaster, the father-in-law of
Meleager; and mighty Jason, captain of the Argo; and Atalanta, the
swift-footed daughter of Iasus, of Arcadia; and many Acarnanian
huntsmen led by the brothers of Queen Althea. Thither also did I
hasten, although men spitefully said that I was far more skilful in
taking tame beasts than in slaying wild ones.
"Nine days we feasted in the halls of Oineus; and every day we tried
our skill with bows and arrows, and tested the strength of our
well-seasoned spears. On the tenth, the bugles sounded, and hounds and
huntsmen gathered in the courtyard of the chief, chafing for the hunt.
"Soon we sallied forth from the town, a hundred huntsmen, with dogs
innumerable. Through the fields and orchards, laid waste by the savage
beast, we passed; and Atalanta, keen of sight and swift of foot, her
long hair floating in the wind behind her, led all the rest. It was
not long until, in a narrow dell once green with vines and trees, but
now strewn thick with withered branches, we roused the fierce creature
from his lair.
"At first he fled, followed closely by the baying hounds. Then
suddenly he faced his foes; with gnashing teeth and bloodshot eyes, he
charged furiously upon them. A score of hounds were slain outright;
and Cepheus, of Arcadia, rushing blindly onward, was caught by the
beast, and torn in pieces by his sharp tusks. Then swift-footed
Atalanta, bounding forward, struck the beast a deadly blow with her
spear. He stopped short, and ceased his furious onslaught.
"Terrible were the cries of the wounded creature, as he made a last
charge upon the huntsmen. But Meleager with a skilful sword-thrust
pierced his heart and the beast fell weltering in his gore. Great joy
filled the hearts of the Calydonians when they saw the scourge of their
land laid low and helpless. They quickly flayed the beast, and the
heroes who had shared in the hunt divided the flesh among them; but the
head and the bristly hide they offered to Meleager.
"'Not to me does the prize belong,' he cried, 'but to Atalanta, the
swift-footed huntress. For the first wound--the true death stroke,
indeed--was given by her; and to her, woman though she be, all honor
and the prize must be awarded.'
"With these words, he bore the grinning head and the bristly hide to
the young huntress, and laid them at her feet. Then his uncles, the
brothers of Queen Althea, rushed angrily forward, saying that no woman
should ever bear a prize away from them; and they seized the hide, and
would have taken it away, had not Meleager forbidden them. Yet they
would not loose their hold upon the prize, but drew their swords, and
wrathfully threatened Meleager's life.
"The hero's heart grew hot within him, and he shrank not from the
affray. Long and fearful was the struggle--uncles against nephew; but
in the end the brothers of Althea lay bleeding upon the ground, while
the victor brought again the boar's hide, and laid it the second time
at Atalanta's feet. The fair huntress took the prize, and carried it
away with her to deck her father's hall in the pleasant Arcadian land.
And the heroes, when they had feasted nine other days with King Oineus,
betook themselves to their own homes.
"But the hearts of the Acarnanian hunters were bitter toward Meleager,
because no part of the wild boar was awarded to them. They called
their chiefs around them, and all their brave men, and made war upon
King Oineus and Meleager. Many battles did they fight round Calydon;
yet so long as Meleager led his warriors to the fray, the Acarnanians
fared but ill.
"Then Queen Althea, filled with grief for her brothers' untimely fate,
forgot her love for her son, and prayed that her Acarnanian kinsmen
might prevail against him. Upon the hard earth she knelt: she beat the
ground with her hands, and heaped the dust about her; and, weeping
bitter tears, she called upon Hades to avenge her of Meleager. And
even as she prayed, the pitiless Furies, wandering amid the darkness,
heard her cries, and came, obedient to her wishes.
"When Meleager heard that his mother had turned against him, he
withdrew in sorrow to his own house, and sought comfort and peace with
his wife, fair Cleopatra; and he would not lead his warriors any more
to battle against the Acarnanians. Then the enemy besieged the city: a
fearful tumult rose about the gates; the high towers were assaulted,
and everywhere the Calydonians were driven back dismayed and beaten.
"With uplifted hands and tearful eyes, King Oineus and the elders of
the city came to Meleager, and besought him to take the field again.
Rich gifts they offered him. They bade him choose for his own the most
fertile farm in Calydon--at the least fifty acres, half for tillage and
half for vines; but he would not listen to them.
"The din of battle thickened outside the gates; the towers shook with
the thundering blows of the besiegers. Old Oineus with trembling limbs
climbed up the stairway to his son's secluded chamber, and, weeping,
prayed him to come down and save the city from fire and pillage. Still
he kept silent, and went not. His sisters came, and his most trusted
friends. 'Come, Meleager,' they prayed, 'forget thy grief, and think
only of our great need. Aid thy people, or we shall all perish!'
"None of these prayers moved him. The gates were beaten down; the
enemy was within the walls; the tide of battle shook the very tower
where Meleager sat; the doom of Calydon seemed to be sealed. Then came
the fair Cleopatra, and knelt before her husband, and besought him to
withhold no longer the aid which he alone could give. 'O Meleager,'
she sobbed, 'none but thou can save us. Wilt thou sit still, and see
the city laid in ashes, thy dearest friends slaughtered, and thy wife
and sweet babes dragged from their homes and sold into cruel slavery?'
"Then Meleager rose and girded on his armor. To the streets he
hastened, shouting his well-known battle cry. Eagerly and hopefully
did the Calydonian warriors rally around him. Fiercely did they meet
the foe. Terrible was the bloodshed. Back from the battered gates and
the crumbling wall the Acarnanian hosts were driven. A panic seized
upon them. They turned and fled, and not many of them escaped the
swords of Meleager's men.
"Again there was peace in Calydon, and the orchards of King Oineus
blossomed and bore fruit as of old; but the gifts and large rewards
which the elders had promised to Meleager were forgotten. He had saved
his country, but his countrymen were ungrateful.
"Meleager again laid aside his war gear, and sought the quiet of his
own home and the cheering presence of fair Cleopatra. For the
remembrance of his mother's curse and his country's ingratitude weighed
heavily on his mind, and he cared no longer to mingle with his fellow
men.
"Then it was that Althea's hatred of her son waxed stronger, and she
thought of the half-burned brand which she had hidden, and of the words
which the Fatal Sisters had spoken so many years before.
"'He is no longer my son,' said she, 'and why should I withhold the
burning of the brand? He can never again bring comfort to my heart;
for the blood of my brothers, whom I loved, is upon his head.'
"And she took the charred billet from the place where she had hidden
it, and cast it again into the flames. And as it slowly burned away,
so did the life of Meleager wane. Lovingly he bade his wife farewell;
softly he whispered a prayer to the unseen powers above; and as the
flickering flames of the fatal brand died into darkness, he gently
breathed his last.
"Then sharp-toothed remorse seized upon Althea, and the mother love
which had slept in her bosom was reawakened. Too late, also, the folk
of Calydon remembered who it was that had saved them from slavery and
death. Down into the comfortless halls of Hades, Althea hastened to
seek her son's forgiveness. The loving heart of Cleopatra, surcharged
with grief, was broken; and her gentle spirit fled to the world of
shades to meet that of her hero-husband. Meleager's sisters would not
be consoled, so great was the sorrow which had come upon them; and they
wept and lamented day and night, until kind Artemis in pity for their
youth changed them into the birds which we call Meleagrides."
[1]Autolycus was a famous mountain chief who lived in rude state on the
slopes of Parnassus and was noted for his courage and cunning. He was
the grandfather of Odysseus (Ulysses), to whom the story is supposed to
have been related.