MEILANION

a son of Amphidamas, and husband of Atalante the daughter of Jasus (Jasion or Jasius) and Clymene, by whom he became the father of Parthenopaeus. (Apollodorus iii)

When she desired to marry, she and her father made it the condition that every suitor who wanted to win her should first of all contend with her in the foot-race. If he conquered her, he was to be rewarded with her hand, if not, he was to be put to death by her.

This she did because she was the most swift-footed among all mortals, and because the Delphic oracle had cautioned her against marriage. Meilanion, one of her suitors, conquered her in this manner.

Aphrodite had given him three golden apples, and during the race he dropped them one after the other. Their beauty charmed Atalante so much, that she could not abstain from gathering them. Thus she was conquered, and became the wife of Meilanion.

Once when the two, by their embraces in the sacred grove of Zeus, profaned the sanctity of the place, they were both metamorphosed into lions.