MYTHOLOGY 



4053 



MYTHOLOGY 





seat, he said to himself, looking around at the 

 crowd which had gathered to witness the race : 



"How can any man be so foolish as to risk his 

 life for the sake of this one girl when there are 

 so many beautiful girls to choose from?" 



But when he saw Atalanta step forward, ready 

 for the race, he changed his mind ; for never, he 

 felt sure, had he looked upon anything so beauti- 

 ful, and he found himself hoping that the youths 

 who ran with her would be defeated. 



And as she ran she looked even more beauti- 

 ful. Her bright hair blew backward in the breeze, 

 a lovely color flushed her face arid her graceful- 

 ness in running was wonderful to look upon. 

 Of course she won, as she always did, and the 

 youths who had made trial of their skill with 

 hers were mercilessly put to death. Even this, 

 however, did not frighten HJppomenes. 



"What glory." he said to her. "can there be 

 in defeating weaklings like those who just ran 

 with you? Tomorrow, if you will, I shall try 

 my speed and endurance against yours." 



As Atalanta looked at him, she felt that she 

 would scarcely wish to defeat this young man, 

 so handsome did he look, so brave, so worthy to 

 be her partner. Still she only nodded her head 

 and made up her mind that she would give him 

 as hard a trial as she had given the others. 



Now, Hippomenes knew, having seen her run, 

 that he could never hope to conquer her in a fair 

 race, but he thought : 



here are ways in which it can be managed. 

 Every girl is curious, every girl likes beautiful 

 things." 



Accordingly, the next day when he took his 

 place beside Atalanta in the starting line, he 

 had in the front of his robe three beautiful golden 

 apples. As the signal for starting was given, the 

 two sped forward, side by side. For a moment 

 it seemed as if he would actually outrun her, 

 but with a fleet step she passed him. Instantly 

 he seized one of his golden apples and tossed it 

 a little ahead of her. She caught her breath, 

 almcjRt stopped, but her desire to win was strong; 

 hw -a lit I rul golden sphere looked so 



t'-inptlng that she hastily stooped to grasp it. 

 Running with all his might, Hippomenes threw 

 a second apple, and again Atalanta slacked her 

 speed and seized it, yet kept fairly ahead of her 

 fellow contestant. Almost despairing, Hlppom- 

 tossed slightly to one side of the course the 

 third apple, the largest, ruddiest, most beautiful 

 one of all. 



< was too much for the princess. She 



stopped suddenly, her draperies whirling about 



stooped, and seized the apj.l. The delay 



was but for a second, although longer than on the 



wo previous occasions, but that was all Hlppom- 



enes needed. He passed her, and with a final 



rush, reached forward, and touched the maple 



goal. He had won ! and the cheers of the people 



hat they were glad that at last their beaut I- 



"ess had been conquered. 



war.! Hippomenes and 

 in which lay the beautiful 



rolden apples, all could see that she looked far 

 In her defeat than she had ever looked 

 before In ni tories. r.j.c. 



of History: An Introduction to Prehistoric Study 

 (new edition) , Fiske's Myths and Myth Makers. 



Helatrd .Subjects. For specific information 

 on mythological subjects, the reader is referred 

 to the following articles in these volumes : 



HUH Oayley's CIoMto Myths; Ouerber's 

 Myth* of Greece and Rome; Keary's The Dawn 



