Meleager

Greek Son of King Oeneus of Calydon, and of Althea. A great javelin thrower, Meleager is most famous for killing the Calydonian Boar (see under Calydonian Boar hunt). A few days after his birth, the three Fates appeared before Althea. They told her that the child would die when a certain log in the fireplace burned. Althea at once snatched the wood from the fire, quenched its flame, and hid it away. When Meleager was a young man, he was sent to kill the Calydonian Boar that was ravaging the countryside. Heroes and princes came from all parts of Greece to hunt the boar. Among them was one woman, Atalanta, the great huntress. She scored the first thrust at the boar. Meleager dealt the death blow and awarded the coveted pelt and tusks to Atalanta, with whom he had fallen in love. The other men were jealous and angry, and fighting ensued, during which Meleager killed both his uncles, brothers of Althea. When Althea saw the corpses of her brothers and learned that Meleager had killed them, she retrieved the wood from its hiding place and angrily cast it into the fire. Meleager died soon thereafter.