Hippomenes and Atalanta

In Greek mythology, Hippomenes (Ιππομένης) the son of Megareus, great-grandson of Poseidon, also known as Melanion, was the husband of Atalanta.

Atalanta raced all her suitors and outran all but Hippomenes, who defeated her by cunning, not speed. Hippomenes knew that he could not win a fair race with Atalanta, so he prayed to Aphrodite for help. She gave him three golden apples and told him to drop them one at a time to distract Atalanta. Sure enough, she stopped running long enough to get each golden apple. It took all three apples and all of his speed, but Hippomenes was finally successful, winning the race and Atalanta's hand.

Atalanta and Hippomenes were turned into lions by Zeus or Cybele after having sex in one of his/her temples.

Atalanta and Hippomenes, Rene Guido

Hippomenes (Hippomene), sculpture, Guillaume Coustou

According to some accounts, Hippomenes was the father of Parthenopaeus.


Mythology Images

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/ "
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License