Sunday, November 28, 2010

Who Is Atalanta?

Who is Atalanta? Atalanta is a character in Greek mythology who was born in Arcadia (a region of Greece) and abandoned by her father after birth and left to fend for herself on a wild hillside. After being raised by a bear, Atalanta was found by hunters and raised with them. Her upbringing gave her a love of hunting which was to last a lifetime.

Who is Atalanta? Her popularity comes from her participation in sporting activities primarily created by Atlanta Ford , and for, men; as such, she is known as being the first female athlete. There are many different versions telling of Atalanta’s exploits. She is known to have taken part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt despite the opposition of male hunters, and she managed to draw first blood from the boar as well as kill two centaurs that attempted to rape her.

Later in Atalanta’s life, she agreed to marry the man who could beat her in a foot race. Atalanta knew she was the fastest human on earth and that nobody could beat her. However, a man named Hippomenes succeeded, but only after tricking Atalanta by dropping three golden apples, causing her to stop.

Finally, Atalanta met her fate due to one of the most primitive instincts of mankind: lust. She let herself be seduced in the Temple of Zeus by her husband and, in anger, the god Zeus turned them both into lions. In a nutshell, the answer to ‘who is Atalanta?’ is simply that Atalanta was the first female athlete in the world, according to Greek mythology.