Atalanta and the Golden Apples

In honor of my sweetie who loves to run, I decided to learn the story of Atalanta and the Golden Apples.

Atalanta and the Golden Apples

Atalanta was left in the woods to die when she was a baby. The king wanted nothing to do with a female child, but a she bear found her squalling in the forest and took care to nurse and feed Atalanta for many years. When Atalanta was still a child, a band of hunters found her and took her in from the wild. They taught her to hunt and she proved to be a swift and cunning hunter. She grew to love running wild in the forests and developed a keen eye for game. Her arrows sang true and she clearly became the best hunter in the group. News of Atalanta’s abilities spread after a particularly dangerous wild boar hunt.
Atalanta’s father, the king, discovered that the wild huntress of the forest was none other than his own true daughter and the king and queen were reunited with her. They were very proud of her but her father felt that it was vital for the young woman to marry. Atalanta loved the freedom of the forest and did not wish to be married to anyone, but her father pleaded with her to marry until finally she agreed to marry the man who could beat her in a foot race. Of course, she stipulated that any one who tried and lost would be executed. This cut her list of suitors down quite a bit but, there were men who tried to race Atalanta and were executed for their troubles.
A young man named Hippomenes saw Atalanta and his heart burst at the sight of her. He could not imagine a love so deep and sincere, but here it was thundering away deep inside himself and it was all for Atalanta. Hippomenes knew he could not run as fast as Atalanta and could never win the race without using his intellect. So he sought help from the gods. Since this was a matter of love, he called upon the goddess of love to help him. Venus could see that this golden haired man was true to his soul in feeling love for Atalanta and she decide to help him. Venus gave him three golden apples and told him how he could win the race.
When Hippomenes approached Atalanta and asked to be her husband she looked at his golden air and beautiful strength and sighing told him that he would have to race her just as all the others had raced her. Atalanta was conflicted because Hippomenes was tender and beautiful. Even though she fell in love with him, she longed for the forest and the freedom of the hunt.
On the day of the race, Atalanta stood ready and Hippomenes, holding his three golden apples prepared himself at the starting line. When the race began, Atalanta quickly overtook Hippomenes running with swiftness and agility. Hippomenes took the first apple and threw it up ahead of Atalanta and a little to the side. Atalanta was so intrigued that she stopped and ran over to pick up the golden apple. The apple was the most compelling thing she ever saw. Hippomenes made a mighty dash and overtook Atalanta but soon she ran past him again, so again he threw a golden apple up in front of Atalanta and off to one side. This time he threw the second apple farther off the track and when Atalanta stopped to pick it up, he overtook her a second time. Soon Atalanta passed Hippomenes again and he threw the third golden apple in front of her. This time. He threw it so far off the track that Atalanta had to sprint into a grassy field to find it. Hippomenes overtook Atalanta a third time but she rapidly ran back to the track and began to catch up to him. This time though, the finish line was in sight and Hippomenes willed his love for Atalanta into his legs and lungs and pushed himself over the finish line just one step ahead of Atalanta.
Venus watched the race and knowing that Atalanta wanted both love and freedom, turned them into lions. Hippomenes with his golden main and Atalanta lived together hunting freely and loving deeply for the rest of their days.


These are the Roman names for these characters. If you choose to go Greek, Atalanta becomes Atlanta and Hippomenes becomes Melonion. The Greek version of the story names Atlanta’s parents as the king Lasus and queen Clymene. It was of course the king who placed in her in the woods because he was so distraught at having a daughter instead of a son. I tried to find the Roman name for Atalanta’s father and found that except for the fact that he was the king his identity is actually in dispute. Some tellings of this story suggest that being turned into lions was a punishment for Hippomenes because he failed to thank the Goddess or a punishment for Atalanta because she continued to refuse to marry. I like a happy ending so I used the version that depicts lionhood as the best of both worlds.