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Μελέαγρος
Enclosing the eastern side of the Saepta, the Porticus Meleagri commemorates the deeds of the hero Meleager of Calydon.
The Hero
Meleager was the son of Althaea and Oeneus of Calydon. When he was born, the Moirae (Fates) revealed to his mother a prophecy: Meleager would die when a log burning in the family hearth was consumed. Althaea took the log out of the fire and hid it in a chest. Meleager grew up into a skillful warrior, invulnerable to harm. He married Cleopatra, the daughter of the hero Idas.
When Jason sailed to Colchis to recover the Golden Fleece, Meleager was one of the heroes of Hellas who joined the Argonauts. His most famous feat, however, was killing the Calydonian Boar. This ferocious monster was unleashed on Calydon, a city in the western part of central Greece, when its king Oeneus neglected to include Artemis in his annual sacrifices to the gods. The monstrous Boar ravaged the countryside around Calydon with the power to strike men and livestock dead and to prevent the fields from being sown, leaving the people began to starve.
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For Artemis,
She of the golden chair, had driven this evil upon them,
angered that Oineus had not given the pride of the orchards
to her, first fruits; the rest of the gods were given due sacrifice,
but alone to this daughter of great Zeus he had given nothing,
He had forgotten, or had not thought, in his hard delusion,
and in wrath at his whole mighty line the Lady of Arrows
sent upon them the fierce wild boar with the shining teeth, who
after the way of his kind did much evil to the orchards of Oineus.
For he ripped up whole trees from the ground and scattered them headlong
roots and all, even to the very flowers of the orchard.
Homer, Iliad, (Book 9: 532-542), trans. by Richmond Lattimore
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The Hunt
To defeat the Boar, King Oeneus appealed for help to the best hunters in Greece, and offered the Boar's pelt and tusks as a prize. Many heroes responded to the call, including some of the Argonauts -- Theseus, Jason, Castor and Pollux -- and the huntress Atalanta. Atalanta had been sent by Artemis to create division among the men. Many of the men refused to hunt with her, but Meleager fell in love with her.
Meleager led the dangerous hunt. Several of the hunters were killed or wounded, including Enasimus of Sparta, Hyleus, and Hippasus. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion, his father-in-law, with his miscast spear. The Boar was wounded first by Atalanta with an arrow and then killed by Meleager with his spear. Meleager gave the hide to Atalanta as a prize for drawing first blood, but this caused an argument with the other hunters. The brothers of Meleager’s mother, Toxeus and Plexippus, robbed Atalanta of the hide, causing fighting among the hunting party. In the ensuing battle, Toxeus and Plexippus were killed by Meleager.
The son of Oineus killed this boar, Meleagros, assembling
together many hunting men out of numerous cities
with their hounds; since the boar might not have been killed by a few men,
so huge was he, and had put many men on the sad fire for burning.
But the goddess again made a great stir of anger and crying
battle, over the head of the boar and the bristling boar’s hide,
between Kouretes and the high-hearted Aitolians.
Homer, Iliad, (Book 9: 543-549), trans. by Richmond Lattimore
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In Death
Distraught over the deaths of her brothers, Althaea took the hidden log from its chest and put it into a fire. As the brand burned down to ash, Meleager fell ill and died. In despair over his death, Meleager’s mother and wife hanged themselves. His sisters wept so much over his death that Artemis took pity and changed them into guinea hens
When Meleager sailed with the Argonauts, he had such a reputation for boldness that Heracles gave the younger hero the honor of rowing beside him. When Heracles went to the Underworld to fetch Cerberus in his Twelfth Labor, he encountered Meleager’s shade. All the other shades in Hades fled from Hercules, except for Meleager and the Gorgon Medusa. Heracles promised Meleager that he would court and marry Deianeira, Meleager's young sister.
Table border design from Squidfingers. Table background and inset design from Eos Development.
Méléagre, Louis-Simon Boizot, Louvre: Wikipedia Commons media files. -- Meleager statue, Roman copy, Pergamon Museum: Wikipedia Commons media files.
Artemis, Greek stamp image: Hellenica. -- Florentine boar, bronze statuette, Victoria & Albert Museum: V&A Activities.
Boar Hunt mosaic, Piazza Armerina, Sicily: Mary Ann Sullivan images. -- Meleager’s Hunt, Nicolas Poussin, Prado: ABC Gallery.
Detail of Meleager, Roman copy of a statue attributed to Skopas, Vatican: copyright Cambridge 2000 Gallery, non-commercial use permitted.
Sources:
Article on the Calydonian Boar Hunt at Timeless Myths.
Articles on Meleager and Calydonian Boar at Hellenica web site.
Homer, Iliad, translated by Richard Lattimore, Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1951).
Pausanias, Description of Greece, 8.45-47.
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Bonus! Porticus Meleagri
