MELEAGER, in fabulous history, a celebrated hero, the son of Oeneus, king of Calydonia, by Althaea, daughter of Thestius. The Parcae were present at the moment of his birth, and predicted his future greatness. Clotho said that he would be brave and courageous; Lachesis foretold his uncommon strength and valour; and Atropos declared that he should live as long as that firebrand, which was on the fire, remained entire and unconsumed. Althaea no sooner heard this, than she snatched the stick from the fire, and kept it with the most jealous care, as the life of her son totally depended upon its preservation. The fame of Meleager increased with his years. He signalized himself in the Argonautic expedition, and afterwards delivered his country from the neighbouring inhabitants, who made war against his father at the instigation of Diana, whose altars Oeneus had neglected. But Diana punished the negligence of Oeneus by a greater calamity. She sent a wild boar, which laid waste all the country, and seemed invincible on account of its immense size. It soon became a public concern; all the neighbouring princes assembled to destroy this terrible animal; and nothing is more famous in mythological history, than the hunting of the Calydonian boar. The princes and chiefs who assembled, were Meleager son of Oeneus, Idas and Lynceus sons of Aphareus, Dryas son of Mars, Castor and Pollux sons of Jupiter and Leda, Pirithous son of Ixion, Theseus son of Aegeus, Anceus and Cepheus sons of Lycurgus, Admetus son of Pheres, Jason of Aeson, Peleus and Telamon sons of Aeacus, Iphicles son of Amphitryon, Eurytrion son of Actor, Atalanta daughter of Schoeneus, Iolas the friend of Hercules, the sons of Thestius, Amphiaraus son of Oileus, Protheus, Cometes, the brothers of Althaea, Hippothous son of Cercyon, Leucippus, Adrastus, Ceneus, Phileus, Echion, Lelex, Phoenix son of Amyntor, Panopeus, Hyleus, Hippasus, Nestor, Mcnoctius the father of Patroclus, Amphicides, Laertes the father of Ulysses, and the four sons of Hippocoon. This troop of armed men attacked the boar, which was at last killed by Meleager. The conqueror gave the skin and the head to Atalanta, who had first wounded the animal. This irritated the rest, and particularly Toxcus and Plexippus the brothers of Althaea, and they endeavoured to rob Atalanta of the honourable present. Meleager defended her, and killed his uncles in the attempt. Meantime the news of this celebrated conquest had already reached Calydon, and Althaea went to the temple of the gods to return thanks for the victory which her son had gained; but being informed that her brothers had been killed by Meleager, she in a moment of resentment threw into the fire the fatal stick on which her son’s life depended, and Meleager died as soon as it was consumed. As Homer does not mention the firebrand, and some have hence imagined that this fable is posterior to that poet’s age. But he informs us, that the death of [7:14:540] Toxcus and Plexippus so irritated Althaea, that she uttered the most horrible curses and imprecations upon her son’s head.

Meleager, a Greek poet, was the collector of the first Anthologia that is known. Neither the place where he was born, nor the time at which he flourished is known with any degree of precision. We think that Mr. Clinton {Fasti Hellenici,xi p. 541) proves that he is notMeleager, the cynic of Gadara, the contemporary of Menippus, but that he flourished after Antipater Sidonius somewhere about 95 B.c. Meleager was the editor of a collection of fugitive pieces of poetry, and the author of some original poems. His collection Avas made from the works of forty-six authors, and was entitled ∑τ ε φαvo ς , the Garland. The authors were Anytus, Myro, Sappho, Melanippides, Simonides, Nossis, Rhianus, Erinna, Alcaeus, Samillo, Leonidas, Mnasalces, Pamphilus, Pancrates, Tymnes, Nicias, Euphemus, Dama-getes, Callimachus, Euphorion, Hegisippus, Perseus, Diotimus, Menecrates, Nicaenetes, Phaennus, Simmias, Parthenis, Bacchylides, Anacreon, Anthemius, Archilochus, Alexander Oetolus, Polycletus, Polystratus, Antipater, Posi-dippus, Hedyles, Sicelides, Plato, Aratus, Cheremon, Phe-dimus, Antagoras, Theodorides, and Phanias. This collection has disappeared, but we possess one hundred and thirty-one pieces which are said to have been the production of this poet. They are written principally on amorous subjects, and are remarkable for the elegance of their versification. The best editions of Meleager are that of Manso, (Iena 1789,) ofMeinecke, (Lips. 1789,) and of Graefe (Lips. 1811.) See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, tom. iv.; Prolegomena to the Anthologia Graeca of Jacobs; Reiske in his Preface to his Anthologia Graeca ; Schneider in his Analecta Critica, facie. 1.; Burette, Mémoires de l’Acad, des wscript, xix.