Greek Lyric Tragedy in Dramas of Swinburne II 
give utterance to some of the most brilliant descriptions in the 
two plays. The display of oratory in these vivid narrations of the 
messenger is strikingly Euripidean. The importance of the 
messengers in developing the plot will be considered later. 
The main dramatic motive of Atalanta in Calydon is the inex- 
orableness of destiny, a theme used so often by the Greek dram- 
atists. When Meleager was born the fates had decreed that he 
should live no longer than the brand on the hearth should burn. 
This was the will of destiny. The end might be postponed but 
was inevitable. Meleager’s mother becomes the unwilling agent 
of the fates. It is hinted that fate in his case is retribution, be- 
cause Meleager persisted in his love for Atalanta, “a maid hal- 
lowed, and huntress holy, as whom she served.”** The chorus 
says of her :*® 
She is holier than all holy days or things, 
The sprinkled water of fume of perfect fire; 
Chaste, dedicated to pure prayers, and filled 
With higher thoughts than heaven; and man 
She loves not; what should one such do with love? 
This justification of fate, however, is unconvincing. Fate 
. seems rather an arbitrary power, working blindly and capri- 
ciously. Mankind seems to be in the grasp of a relentless force. 
~ Destiny appears as “Irony of Fate,” in the words of Professor 
Moulton,** “a march of Destiny, relentless and mocking, through 
means and hindrances alike, never so sure as when it is opposed, 
using the very obstacles in its path as stepping-stones by which 
it travels forward.” It is this “Irony of Fate” that makes 
Althaea, who has kept her son alive so long and whose love is 
unmistakable, in the end become the instrument of fate in caus- 
ing Meleager’s death. She feels the force of fate, but is power- 
less to resist. She says** “the gods are many about me; I am 
one.” ‘Though she cries out against fate, she finally yields and, 
44 Cf. Euripides, Electra, ll. 774-880. 
45 Atalanta in Calydon, p. 255. 
46 Ancient Classical Drama, p. 96. 
47 Atalanta in Calydon, p. 301. 
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