Occupation: Monarch, Warrior, Hunter

Legal Status: Citizen of Calydon

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Meleagar except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: None known

Place of Birth: Calydon, Aetolia (now part of modern Greece)

Place of Death: Calydon, Aetolia

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Oeneus (father), Althaea (mother), Toxeus (brother), Laocoon, Tydeus, Olenius (half-brothers), Alcathous, Agrius, Melas, Staphylus (paternal uncles), Eurythemis (paternal aunt), Calydon, Plexippus (maternal uncles, deceased), Hypermnestra (maternal aunt), Deianeira, Hypermnestra, Leda (sisters), Hercules (brother-in-law), Helen, Pollux, Oxylus, Thoas (cousins),

Group Affiliations: Member of the Argonauts

Base of Operations: Calydon 

First Appearance: Ares #3

History: Meleager is a Twelfth Century warrior and prince in the House of Calydon, one of the main city/states of Ancient Aetolia, now part of modern Greece. He was the son of King Oeneus and Althaea, the daughter of his Uncle Thestius. When Meleager was born, however, a prophecy from a local oracle predicted that the infant would only live as long as a waiting cord of wood remained unburned. (In later legends, Althaea hears the prophecy directly from Atropos, one of the Fates.) Upon hearing the prediction, Althaea collected the wood and locked it away in a trunk to spare her son's life.

Growing into adulthood, Meleager excelled in fighting and hunting and became the worthy heir to his father's throne. While hunting a bear terrorizing Arcadia, he managed to wound it and tracked a long distance trying to kill it. He instead clashed with Atalanta, a wild huntress, who had finished off the bear and had taken its hide as her prize. Arguing over who had first claim to the kill eventually, they tried wrestling each other over the hide, but the match eventually came to a stalemate, either because Meleager couldn't defeat her, because Atalanta found herself attracted to him or a combination of both reasons. They eventually came to respect each other for their respective abilities, and Meleager began inviting her on hunting adventures both local and abroad. 

Over time, Meleagar began to romance Atalanta, and during a moment of foolishness, he described her skills above even that of Artemis, for which the goddess took offense and unleashed the Calydonian boar, a wild sow three times the size of other boars and impervious to weapons for revenge. As the boar devastated most of Calydon, Meleager's father, King Oeneus, called out for the best warriors of Hellas (Ancient Greece) to slay it. Along the warriors to show up were the brothers Peleus and Telamon, Jason of Sparta, Theseus of Athens and Meleager's uncles, Ancaeus and Eurytion. According to some versions of these events, Hercules tried to take part but arrived late after the boar was killed due to his distraction with his Twelve Labors.  

During the hunt, both Ancaeus and Eurytion were slain by the boar in the battle trying to kill it. Invited into the quest by Meleager, Atalanta managed to cast the first blow on it, but her arrow skimmed off the boar's thick skin. As the other warriors tried several times to slay it, Atalanta succeeded in slaying the boar by shooting an arrow straight down its throat, but when Meleager tried to award her the pelt for casting the original strike at it, the other warriors responded feeling slighted. One of the loudest in his contempt was Plexippus, Meleager's uncle, who Meleager used as an example to silence the others by shooting him with an arrow. Despite this infraction, Meleagar joined the other warriors among the Argonauts assembled by Jason on a quest for the Golden Fleece. Since he was still quite young, his uncle, Laocoon, accompanied him, but Atalanta was not allowed to join them. 

On his return to Calydon, Meleager started making arrangements to marry Atalanta and make her his wife, but this decision did not rest well with his family and countrymen. Furthermore, Queen Althaea eventually heard how Meleager had murdered her brother and went into deep remorse. Remembering the cord of wood keeping him alive, she retrieved it and tossed it into a burning fire. As Meleager and Atalanta were sharing his bed in his room, he was suddenly seized with great pain and fever and turned black before passing away in Atalanta's arms. Atalanta eventually departed Calydon in deep sorrow, considering Meleager the love of her life. 

After his death, Meleager's spirit passed on to Hades, the realm of the dead, and when Hercules arrived on his final labor to capture Cerberus, Meleager's spirit appeared to him and recommended that he marry his little sister, Deianeira, and take care of her. In modern years, Meleager was one of the Greek heroes along with Perseus, Odysseus, Achilles, Theseus and the Argonauts dispatched by Hades against Mikaboshi, the Japanese god of chaos, laying waste to the perspective lands of the dead.  

Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 245 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown

Strength Level: Meleager possesses the normal human strength level of a man of his size, height and weight who engages in extensive physical exercises.

Known Superhuman Powers: None

Abilities: Meleager is an accomplished warrior trained in both armed and unarmed combat. He is also a proficient archer on par with Atalanta, possibly exceeding most archers in Ancient Greece.

Weapons: Meleager has access to both swords and the bow and arrow.

Comments: This bio describes Meleager as he has (possibly) appeared in Marvel Comics; he has yet to appear in DC Comics.

Clarifications: Meleager is not to be confused with:

• any other "Meleagar" in Marvel or DC Comics

Last updated: 06/01/19