Question: you mentioned in your profile that you love mythology, so what is your favorite myth?

Kate Timms answered on 7 Jun 2019:

That’s a great question! I have so many. I’ve always loved Greek mythology because I grew up watching a TV show called Xena that had lots of Greek mythology in it.

One of my favourite myths is the one about the Calydonian boar. The king of Calydon hadn’t paid proper respect to the goddess of hunting, Artemis (she’s my favourite), so Artemis sent a fierce boar to terrorise his kingdom. Everyone who tried to slay the boar was killed and all the vineyards and farms that fed the kingdom were destroyed by the boar.
Eventually, the king had had enough. He organised a hunting competition to attract the strongest, best hunters in the Greek world (including all of the king’s sons and other family) to come and jointly try to kill the boar. This was all part of Artemis’ plan. She sent one of her followers, a gifted huntress and extremely fast runner known as Atalanta. When she arrived and asked the join the hunt, the rest of the male hunters laughed at her. But the king’s son Meleager convinced them that she should be allowed to take part.
For a long time, none of the hunters could even hit the boar. Not with their arrows, spears of swords. Until Atalanta stepped in. Guided by Artemis’ favour, she shot an arrow from her bow and mortally wounded the boar. Before the boar could die from it’s wounds, Meleager stepped in and hit it with his spear, ending it’s life. And though he claimed victory, it was really Atalanta who struck the killing blow. He just finished it off quicker. But Meleager was a good man, so when we was given the skin of the boar as a prize, he gave it to Atalanta instead. This made the rest of the men, especially Meleager’s uncles, angry and they got into a fight. They all ended up killing each other until Atalanta was the only one left.
It ended up that the king’s line was snuffed out (there was no one left to take the throne after him), so not only did Artemis punish him for not paying her proper respect, she showed them that a woman (Atalanta) could be just as good as a man.

I’d love to re-write some of the ancient Greek myths one day to give them a more modern slant and make sure the women get the credit they deserve!

What about you, do you have a favourite myth?