Melanion (son of Amphidamas)

In Greek mythology, Melanion (Ancient Greek: Μελανίων, romanized: Melaníōn) or Milanion (Ancient Greek: Μειλανίων, romanized: Meilaníōn) is an Arcadian prince who married Atalanta, the fearsome huntress who killed the Calydonian boar. In ancient sources Melanion is often conflated with Atalanta's husband Hippomenes, but is not entirely interchangeable with him, and the two likely originated from independent traditions.

Melanion was the son of Amphidamas, a prince of Arcadia, and so the brother of Antimache.^[1] Amphidamas was the brother of Iasus, Atalanta's father in the Arcadian version, making Melanion and his wife first cousins.^[2]

The Boeotian story of Atalanta and Hippomenes' footrace, already recorded in the archaic poem Catalogue of Women, goes that Atalanta only accepted to marry the man who would beat her in a footrace.^[3] Hippomenes was no match for her speed, but he was given three golden apples by love-goddess Aphrodite that he dropped on three occasions during the footrace; each time Atalanta halted to pick up the apple, losing time and allowing Hippomenes to overtake her and take the victory and her hand in marriage.^[4] But he neglected to properly thank Aphrodite for her support, so some time later she inspired uncontrollable lust in them and the two had sex inside a temple dedicated to Zeus or Cybele, so the offended deity transformed them both into lions.^[5]

One of the earliest accounts for Melanion's story is Aristophanes' comedic play Lysistrata, which differs significantly from other accounts. In it, the male chorus says that Melanion avoided marriage and withdrew to the mountains, hunting wild game with nets he wove and never returning home out of hatred for women.^[6] Although there could be some lesser-known narrative where Melanion was more like the Euripidean Hippolytus, the male chorus could be twisting the tale to make a point.^[7]

In some versions the Arcadian Melanion supplants the Boeotian Hippomenes as the man who marries Atalanta in spite of her wilfully avoiding marriage,^[8] although his way of wooing the maiden is often overlooked by ancient testimonies.^[9] Melanion is sometimes presented as the winner of the footrace. As a hunter who avoided marriage, Melanion can be seen as a male counterpart to Atalanta.^[10][11]

Fifth-century BC historian Xenophon says that Melanion was a pupil of Chiron,^[12] and that he succeeded in getting Atalanta with 'great labour', while Ovid and Propertius write that he followed her around, battling wild beasts and carrying her nets while she hunted and even suffering a wound by Hylaeus (the centaur who harassed Atalanta),^[13] evidently a figure distinct from Hippomenes and one who won Atalanta's heart through devotion rather than competition.^[9] It is Apollodorus in the second century the first one to name the winner of the footrace Melanion rather than Hippomenes.^[14] Likewise, the first known attestation of the lion metamorphosis myth comes from fourth-century BC writer Palaephatus, who uses Melanion for Atalanta's husband's name, but says no word about the actual myth's details.^[15][16] In the rationalising account of Palaephatus, the two entered a lion couple's cave and were killed by them, but when the two lions exited the cave, Melanion's companions thought that he and Atalanta had transformed into animals.^[17]

Atalanta herself is hypothised to be the amalgamation of two heroines, one Boeotian with a footrace myth, and one Arcadian who hunted the Calydonian Boar along with Meleager,^[18] which explains the discrepancy of the identity of the successful suitor turned husband.^[9] It is not clear whether two distinct Atalantas came to be conflated, or an original singular Atalanta diverged into two main ways and was unified again later.^[19] Detienne, Fontenrose and Forbes Irving disagreed that the two Atalantas needed a distinction at all, as both girls are described as excelling in masculine activities and geography is one of the elements where myths can vary.^[20][21][22] In accordance, Hippomenes is commonly the husband in the Boeotian tradition, and Melanion in the Arcadian one.^[23][12] Although Hippomenes never plays a role outside the Boeotian myth, Melanion is sometimes included in the myth of the Calydonian boar hunt, as the François Vase depicts him hunting side-by-side with Atalanta, perhaps meant to be understood as his already wedded wife.^[9][24] Two ancient Greek inscriptions mention him as one of the Calydonian boar hunters.^[25]

Furthermore, Melanion in some sources was said to be the father of Atalanta's son Parthenopaeus, himself an Arcadian native who joined the seven against Thebes.^[26][2] Although some versions make him a son of Ares or Meleager, Hippomenes, unlike Melanion, is never the father.^[14][12]

According to the traveller Pausanias, one of the scenes depicted on the chest that Cypselus dedicated at Olympia was Atalanta holding a deer standing next to Melanion.^[27] A fragmentary dinos excavated in the ancient agora of Athens depicts Atalanta in the presence of a man whose name starts with 'Mel-' and has been identified with Melanion, although Meleager is another possibility.^[28][29]

• Cyanippus, a Thessalian hunter
• Siproites, a hunter from Crete
• Orion, who pursued nymphs devoted to Artemis