Althaea (mythology)

Althaea was the daughter of King Thestius of Aetolia, son of Ares. She was therefore a Pleuronian princess. Her mother may have been Leucippe or Eurythemis, daughter of Cleoboea. She had two sisters: Leda Plexippus, Eurypylus, and Evippus. Toxeus has also been named as Althaea's brother. Through her sister Leda, Althaea was the aunt of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux. Together they had sons Meleager, Toxeus, Thyreus, Pheres, Clymenus, Agelaus, Periphas and daughters Deianeira, Gorge, Melanippe and Eurymede. and Ancaeus was named as her son by the god Poseidon. Likewise, Deianeira was sometimes described as the daughter of Dionysus; Hyginus wrote that the affair was carried out with Oeneus' permission and knowledge, and as a reward, Dionysus taught him how to cultivate grapes. == Mythology ==

. Seven days after Althaea gave birth to Meleager, the Moirai Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos appeared to her. They told Althaea that her son's life was bound to that of a log (brand) burning in the family hearth; he would only live as long as the brand was unconsumed by fire. Althaea removed the brand from the hearth and buried it in the palace The animal rampaged across the countryside destroying crops, killing any person it came across, and forcing people to take shelter within the city walls. Oeneus gathered together a group of warriors to kill the boar, including Meleager, the famous huntress Atalanta, and a few of Althaea's brothers, potentially Plexippus and Toxeus. Meleager dealt the killing strike to the boar, but gave the skin to Atalanta both because he had fallen in love with her and because she had landed the first and many subsequent blows onto the animal. However, Meleager's uncles were outraged that Meleager would give the prize to a woman and non-family member. They forcefully took the skin from Atalanta, and Meleager retaliated by killing them both. However, she was unable to withstand her grief, and afterwards committed suicide by hanging ==Family tree==