In ancient Greece, it certainly was a blunder to piss off the Gods. Those diefic layabouts sat on Mount Olympus and meted out terrible plagues,curses and punishments for even the smallest slight or infraction. At one point, the goddess Artemis got pissed at the King of Calydonia. King Oeneus was not paying proper tribute so this nasty wench sent a giant Boar to ravage and ruin the Kingdom of Calydonia.
King Oeneus sent out a call for hunters to kill his vexatious and destructive uber-pig. The bravest and best Sportsmen of Greece assembled to hunt the Boar and win fame and the pelt and tusks. Included in this assembly was a Sportswomen: the beautiful and sexy Atalanta. This Classical era hottie had just returned from hanging with the Argonauts on the Golden Fleece trip.
Many of the Calydonia Hunters protested that they would not hunt with a wench. The King's son intervened and made the boys take the fearless Atalanta with them.
When this crew was clammoring thru the Forest, they stumbled on the Boar's lair. This agravated the Boar and several hunters were gored and killed in the resulting pig attack. Even the intrepid Jason missed with his javelin toss while trying to fend off this assault. However, the lovely and deadly Atalanta loosed an arrow that stuck in the big pig's brain. This skewering merely stunned the giant Boar. The rest of the hunters saw their chance and fell upon the quarry with axe and sword and finally dispatched the Boar. The final blow was struck by Meleager and he gave the hide to Atalanta to suck up to this comely huntress. She was not impressed. Nevertheles, the King and subjects of Calydonia were certainly impressed with Atalanta.
As an aside... interesting to see the get-ups in which these guys take to the woods. As an experienced hunter, I would tend to discourage one from hunting boar nude and wearing nothing but a red cape while one's package is in the breeze.
Fantastic. More, please. I studied Classics at school and university. The goddess Artemis was among my favourites and the story of Hippolytus sticks out in my mind for some reason. In the wilder reaches of northern Connecticut and New York State, where I used to go trout fishing, you can still find small shrines to Artemis built by ancient farmers along the crumbling stone walls in the forests.
ReplyDeleteThis was excellent.
ReplyDeleteIf you see me running through the woods in nothing but a red cape, you'll know why.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I've always been such a huge fan of Greek mythology, etc. I love these photos of this wonderful art.
ReplyDeleteKS based on your recent posts about women related angst...you could use a good run thru the woods....ending at local Saloon for libations and the chance to meet another goddess to ease your soul.
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