a t a l a n t a
The story of Atalanta is given in Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Atalanta's father was
bitterly disappointed that she was born a girl, not a boy; so disappointed in fact that
he left the baby to die in the wilderness. A she-bear claimed her and cared for her until
she was adopted by some kind hunters. She became an excellent hunter herself and joined some of the
best hunters in Greece to fight the Calydonian boar, a terrible beast sent by Artemis out of
pique because King Oeneus forgot the goddess when it was time to sacrifice the first fruits of the harvest.
It was Atalanta's arrow that was the first to wound the boar; the King's son Meleager delivered
the death blow. Meleager had fallen in the love the skilled huntress, and he gave her the skin of
the boar, since it was her arrow that enabled him to move in for the kill. The story might have
ended happily if Meleager hadn't killed his uncles and Meleager's mother hadn't have killed
Meleager in her anger and vengeance. (The uncles were angry Meleager gave the skin to Atalanta,
Meleager was angry at the uncles, and it all went downhill from there.) Instead, Atalanta
returned to the woods and various adventures, including successfully wrestling the young man
who would be Achilles' father. Remember him? Of course you don't! See
Amphitrite's story. Atalanta did marry, thanks to interference and trickery from
Aphrodite, whom she and her daring husband must have offended at some point because they were
both turned into lions. Amethyst the gemstone is attributed with alleviating sadness and dissolving
negativity, but the color purple is associated with royalty, luxury, power and
ambition. I like to think that Atalanta would have understood the benefits of both. The deep purple
pendant in this necklace is fashioned by the talented artisans of SilverRocks, and it's paired
with a strong but delicate 1mm sterling silver box chain.
Cost: $44.00 USD
g i f t i n s t r u c t i o n s :
If this item is going to be a gift, enter the
gift recipient name in the text box when you add this item to your cart. If your entire order
is going to one recipient (yourself or other), no other action is needed and you can
specify the shipping address in PayPal checkout. However, if you would like multiple recipients
in the same order, we can accommodate that! Before
you check out, make sure to add a gift box
to your cart for each gift recipient in your order.
You will be charged $4.95 USD for each recipient other than yourself and you'll need to add
the recipient name and address to the gift box text field. Also, each recipient can receive
multiple items for the same $4.95 gift box fee;
just continue to specify their name when adding items to your cart.
c a t e g o r i e s :
- Color: purple
- Material: quartz rocks
- Type: necklace - mid
- Geek Chic: literary allusions
- Cool Finds: cool stones
The pendant and chain are robust to toddler tugs, but as with
all beaded jewelry: do not let young toddlers chew on it.
