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Lot Essay
Regarded as second only to Herakles in his abilities, Meleager was the youngest of the Argonauts. He returned safe from his travels but his life was still to be short.
According to the myth, Meleager's father Oeneus had upset the goddess Artemis by neglecting to make sacrifices to her after a successful harvest. In her rage, she set a monstrous boar upon the Aetolians, which ravaged their land and wreaked general havoc. To bring an end to this situation, Meleager assembled a band of heroes to destroy the beast. Depicted at the centre of the panel, Meleager appears at the climactic moment of the hunt, as his spear is about to plunge into the boar. To underline his importance as the protagonist of the story, in centre stage, Meleager is depicted in a larger scale than the other figures represented. Just before him is the huntress Atalanta, the object of his affections, who is rushing forward with her bow in her left hand, having checked the target with her arrow. The twins Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) stand behind Meleager, recognizable in their Pilos helmets. The assembly of hunters is accompanied by hounds, and one of the participants has fallen below the stampede. This subject was a popular choice for sarcophagi and several, akin to this example, preserve the height of the drama along the front panel. For similar, see S. Woodford, 'Meleagros', LIMC VI, Zurich and Munich, 1992, no. 121-4.
According to the myth, Meleager's father Oeneus had upset the goddess Artemis by neglecting to make sacrifices to her after a successful harvest. In her rage, she set a monstrous boar upon the Aetolians, which ravaged their land and wreaked general havoc. To bring an end to this situation, Meleager assembled a band of heroes to destroy the beast. Depicted at the centre of the panel, Meleager appears at the climactic moment of the hunt, as his spear is about to plunge into the boar. To underline his importance as the protagonist of the story, in centre stage, Meleager is depicted in a larger scale than the other figures represented. Just before him is the huntress Atalanta, the object of his affections, who is rushing forward with her bow in her left hand, having checked the target with her arrow. The twins Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) stand behind Meleager, recognizable in their Pilos helmets. The assembly of hunters is accompanied by hounds, and one of the participants has fallen below the stampede. This subject was a popular choice for sarcophagi and several, akin to this example, preserve the height of the drama along the front panel. For similar, see S. Woodford, 'Meleagros', LIMC VI, Zurich and Munich, 1992, no. 121-4.