Althaea (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Althaea (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx from ἀλθαίνω althaino, "to cure", also "a kind of mallow"),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Beekes">Template:Cite book</ref> also rendered Althea or Althaia, was queen of Calydon through her marriage to King Oeneus. Althaea appears in myths surrounding the fabled Calydonian boar hunt, and is infamous for murdering her son Meleager.

Family

Althaea was the daughter of King Thestius of Aetolia, son of Ares.<ref name=":0">Apollodorus, Library, 1.8</ref><ref name=":1">Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses, 2</ref><ref>Strabo, Geography, 10.3</ref> She was therefore a Pleuronian princess. Her mother may have been Leucippe<ref name=":22">Hyginus, Fabulae, 14.3</ref> or Eurythemis, daughter of Cleoboea.<ref name=":2">Apollodorus, Library, 1.7</ref> She had two sisters: Leda<ref name=":22" /> and Hypermnestra, and four brothers: Iphiclus,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Plexippus, Eurypylus, and Evippus.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="DGRBM">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Toxeus has also been named as Althaea's brother.<ref>Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.260; See Commentary Note 92 on the Oenides</ref> Through her sister Leda, Althaea was the aunt of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux.<ref name=":22" />

Althaea married Oeneus, king of Calydon.<ref name=":3">Hyginus, Fabulae, 174</ref> Together they had sons Meleager, Toxeus, Thyreus, Pheres, Clymenus, Agelaus, Periphas and daughters Deianeira, Gorge, Melanippe and Eurymede.<ref>Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 25.14–17</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> According to some accounts, Meleager was the result of a liaison with Ares<ref name=":4">Hyginus, Fabulae, 171</ref> and Ancaeus was named as her son by the god Poseidon.<ref>Hyginus, Fabulae, 14.3</ref> Likewise, Deianeira was sometimes described as the daughter of Dionysus;<ref>Euripides, Cyclops, 1; See Note 5</ref> Hyginus wrote that the affair was carried out with Oeneus' permission and knowledge, and as a reward, Dionysus taught him how to cultivate grapes.<ref name=":3" />

Mythology

Althaea casts the brand of Meleager into the fire, illustration by Johann Wilhelm Baur.

Seven days after Althaea gave birth to Meleager, the Moirai Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos appeared to her. They told Althaea that her son's life was bound to that of a log (brand) burning in the family hearth; he would only live as long as the brand was unconsumed by fire.<ref name=":5">Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.451</ref> Althaea removed the brand from the hearth and buried it in the palace<ref name=":4" /> or placed it in a chest.<ref name=":0" />

Meleager grew to be a noble prince, well-respected by his peers. One spring, when Oeneus was sacrificing the first fruits of the season to the gods, he accidentally omitted Artemis, goddess of the hunt.<ref name=":0" /> Enraged by the slight, Artemis unleashed a massive, ferocious boar on Calydon.<ref>Homer, Illiad, 9.538</ref><ref>Bacchylides, Epinicians, 5</ref> The animal rampaged across the countryside destroying crops, killing any person it came across, and forcing people to take shelter within the city walls. Oeneus gathered together a group of warriors to kill the boar, including Meleager, the famous huntress Atalanta, and a few of Althaea's brothers, potentially Plexippus and Toxeus.<ref name=":3" /><ref>E. M. Cope, Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle, 2.2</ref> Meleager dealt the killing strike to the boar, but gave the skin to Atalanta both because he had fallen in love with her and because she had landed the first and many subsequent blows onto the animal. However, Meleager's uncles were outraged that Meleager would give the prize to a woman and non-family member.<ref name=":6">Diodorus Siculus, Library, 4.34.4.</ref> They forcefully took the skin from Atalanta, and Meleager retaliated by killing them both.<ref name=":0" />

When Althaea learned what had happened, she was distraught and enraged. She took the brand from where she had concealed it and threw it onto the hearth, killing her son.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7">Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, 602</ref><ref>Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.31.4</ref> However, she was unable to withstand her grief, and afterwards committed suicide by hanging<ref name=":6" /> or stabbing herself.<ref name=":5" /> All of Meleager's sisters besides Gorge and Deianira mourned continuously at Meleager's tomb until Artemis transformed them into birds and moved them to the island of Leros, where they were called the Meleagrids.<ref name=":1" />

Alternately, some authors claim that there was no brand. Instead, they write that Althaea killed her son by cursing him; the gods granted her wishes for vengeance and killed him.<ref name=":7" /> Additionally, Homer's version of the story in the Iliad differs significantly from other accounts. He writes that a war broke out between the Curetes and the Calydonians after the hunt ended, during which Meleager killed many of Althaea's brothers. Althaea was struck with grief, and prayed to Hades and Persephone for revenge; Meleager then fell in battle, potentially due to the interference of the Erinyes. After his death, Althaea and Meleager's wife Cleopatra hung themselves.<ref>Homer, Iliad, 9.529</ref><ref name=":0" />

References

• Aeschylus, translated in two volumes. 2. Libation Bearers by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Thomas Bulfinch. Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes. 1855 (Chapter XVIII).