Meleager’s Family Tree

About Meleager →

Family

• Althaea(parent),Oeneus(parent),Deianira(sibling)— Marriage

  Oeneus and Althaea, king and queen of Calydon, were parents of Meleager and Deianira. The Moirai bound Meleager's life to a firebrand at birth, which Althaea preserved until grief drove her to burn it.

Slew

• Calydonian Boar

  Meleager struck the killing blow against the Calydonian Boar and awarded its hide to Atalanta, who had drawn first blood. This decision sparked the fatal quarrel with his uncles.

Slain by

• Althaea

  Althaea killed her son Meleager by casting his enchanted firebrand into the fire after he slew her brothers during the quarrel over the Calydonian Boar's hide.

Member of

• Argonauts

  Meleager of Calydon sailed with the Argonauts. His presence linked the quest to the Calydonian Boar Hunt, as many of the same heroes participated in both expeditions.

Associated with

• Calydonian Boar,Peleus

  Peleus joined Meleager and other heroes in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, but accidentally killed his host Eurytion with a javelin throw during the chase, forcing him into a second exile.

• Atalanta

  Meleager fell in love with Atalanta during the Calydonian Boar Hunt. After she drew first blood with her arrow, he awarded her the boar's hide, provoking a fatal quarrel with his uncles.

• Deianira

  Meleager and his sister Deianira were both children of Oeneus and Althaea. After Meleager's death, his shade in the Underworld persuaded Heracles to marry Deianira.

• Erinyes

  Althaea beat the earth and called upon the Erinyes to curse her son Meleager after he killed her brothers in the quarrel over the Calydonian boar's hide, and the Fury who walks in darkness heard her from Erebus.

• Heracles

  In Bacchylides's Ode 5, Heracles encountered the shade of Meleager in the Underworld. Meleager's tale of his tragic death moved Heracles to tears, and he agreed to marry Meleager's sister Deianira.

• Moirai

  The Moirai appeared at Meleager's birth and declared he would live only until a log in the fire burned away. His mother Althaea hid the brand, but later cast it into the flames, fulfilling the Fates' decree.

• Oeneus

  Meleager led the hunt against the Calydonian Boar that Artemis sent to punish his father Oeneus. Though the hunt succeeded, the ensuing quarrel over the boar's hide led to Meleager's death.