HERO QUEST

The hero is the founder of something new. Atalanta was the first women who was better than men at something; “Some… felt it beneath them to go hunting with a woman”

Universal is the representative of every man with a special characteristic that sets him apart. Atalanta had a father and had given birth; “Atalanta’s father… a daughter… was born to him.” “Atalanta had borne a son.”

The major flaw in the hero is where the hero is special but defiantly not perfect. Atalanta did not like men unless they were hunting with her; “She had no liking for men except as the hunt and she was determined never to marry.”

The call to adventure on a hero’s journey would be that the hero is given a goal or assigned a quest. Atalanta’s call to adventure was that she was a great hunter and knew that that was what she had to do; “She became in the end more than their equal in all the arduous feats of a hunters life.”

Initiation in a hero’s quest is when the hero enters a strange world and leaves behind the familiar. In Atlanta’s case her initiation was her first big kill of two centaurs that were stalking her when she was alone; “Centaurs, swifter and stronger by far than any mortal, caught sight of her… she stood still and fitted an arrow to her bow and shot… both centaurs fell, mortally wounded.”

The hero’s journey is the road of trials, battles and obstacles they go through. Atalanta’s first big journey was the killing of the Calydonian boar; “Then came the famous hunt of the Calydonian boar.”

Companions and friends of a hero journey are the sidekicks, partners and support for the hero. Atalanta had a friend who secretly loved her; “Meleager fell in love with her… Atalanta treated him as a good comrade.”

Supernatural guides in a hero’s journey provide information, magic, weapons or charms for the hero. Atalanta had help from Aphrodite; “Aphrodite, always on the lookout to subdue wild young maidens who despised love.”

The ultimate battle in the hero quest is the final test the hero has to go through. Atalanta’s final battle was the race between her and her future husband; “she had caught up with him and the goal was now very near… she saw the gleam through the green, she could not resist if… her lover panting and winded touched the goal.”

The transformation the hero goes through alters them in some way in the final battle. Atalanta’s transformation was that she no longer free with the forest; “Her free days alone in the forest and her athletic victories were over.”

The death and rebirth in the quest is out with the old and in with the new. Atananta’s death and rebirth was that she was turned into a lion with her husband; “The two are said to have been turned into lions.”

Finally the boon in the quest is the gift that is to be shared. Atalanta’s gift was her son; “Atalanta had borne a son, Parthenopaeus, who was one of the seven against Thebes.”