For Atalanta she was strong, never worried about these sexual acts men tried against her, but this does lay down new emotions for this young woman. Rape is seen in other Greek stories as a way for men to get over on woman, and woman to repent (cast revenge) on men (Tyrrell 5). Showing these traits in “Atalanta”, she forms the race to get wed, and the men who do not win against her, end up being slain. Symbolically she is getting her revenge over the weak men who think they are better than her, can beat her. Men of the highest power were the only males that gave her attention and the time of day to where they liked her for who she is (Mayor 7). This was out of the ordinary because the woman of this time was not manly or even allowed to partake in battle. These women were there for anything but being a manly figure. But in her case, she was the exception. She then leads other woman to be more like her, which even ties into today’s time. We have a woman running for president, which in this time is the equivalent of Atalanta doing man’s work. Symbolism doesn’t stop here, while Atalanta was being raised she was told by Delphi that if she associates with men in her life, her entire life will change (be distorted) (Roberts and Zweig 2015). So, when she finally started to associate with the opposite gender, her life did change. To remain Celibate would have saved her and kept her in …show more content…
The men in her life have never been to what we today see. The beginning of Atalanta’s life she was betrayed by her father in a forest and left for dead. She then later in life had a baby, that she secretly left on the top of a mountain. Wanting nothing to do with the baby boy (symbolic of her being left at birth). And even further into her life she lost her last love, Milanion, to the fault of his own by not returning the favor in helping him get her hand in marriage (Roberts and Zweig 2015). Celibacy thus leads into a very relevant part of the symbolism in this Mythology. By staying Celibate, not having a son, not putting herself out there, she would have never turned into a Lioness. Now she didn’t just magically turn into a Lioness, but she was tempted by the Goddess of Love, to make love in a sacred temple that thus resulted into her turning into the Lioness. This event didn’t come out of the blue it was lead up to. Becoming a Lioness was not a direct result of hers. Milanion, as mentioned had received a favor in helping him get her hand in marriage, well this was not just any ordinary favor. Milanion knew that Atalanta was looking for a spouse. He wanted to beat her in a race so badly and knew that he nor any man was faster than her. This resulted in asking The Goddess of Love for 3 Golden Apples. The Golden Apples have shown up in many other Greek Myth stories, including