Skip to main content
Greek Mythology Notes

Aetolia

🏛 placeΑἰτωλία
geography

A region of northwestern Greece associated with the Calydonian Boar Hunt and the hero Meleager.‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌

The Story of Aetolia

Aetolia was the homeland of Meleager, whose fate was bound to a burning log.‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌ His mother Althaea was told by the Fates that her son would live only as long as a certain log in the fire remained unburned, so she preserved it carefully. Meleager grew up to lead the famous hunt of the Calydonian Boar, a monstrous beast sent by Artemis to ravage the land. When Meleager killed the boar but then slew his uncles in a quarrel over the hide, Althaea in grief threw the log into the fire, and Meleager died instantly.

Parents

{Ares,Althaea}

Children

{Meleager}

Symbols

boarlogspear

Fun Fact

The Calydonian Boar Hunt was one of antiquity's great all-star events — participants included Atalanta, Theseus, Jason, and Peleus.

Explore Further

Meleager

🗡 hero

Hero whose life was bound to a burning log

The leader of the Calydonian Boar Hunt whose fate was tied to a charred brand — when it burned out, he died.

Meleager

🗡 hero

Leader of the Calydonian Boar Hunt

Meleager's life was bound to a burning log.

Meleagris (turkey genus)

Calydon

🏛 place

geography

An Aetolian city whose king's neglect of Artemis brought a devastating divine boar to ravage the land.

Epirus

🏛 place

region, northwestern Greece

A mountainous region in northwestern Greece, home to the Oracle of Dodona and the legendary kingdom of the Molossians.

Aventine Hill

🏛 place

geography

One of the seven hills of Rome, associated with the fire-breathing monster Cacus and Heracles' cattle.

Chaonia

🏛 place

geography

A region of northwestern Greece (Epirus) associated with the oracle of Dodona and the earliest Greek mythology.

Xanthus River

🏛 place

geography

The principal river of Lycia in Anatolia, where the Lycian hero Sarpedon's homeland was located.

xanthic (yellow/tawnyfrom xanthos)

Lycia

🏛 place

kingdom, Anatolia

A mountainous region in southwestern Anatolia whose warriors fought for Troy and whose hero Bellerophon slew the Chimera.

Caucasus Mountains

🏛 place

geography

The mountain range at the edge of the known world where Prometheus was chained as punishment for stealing fire.

Caucasian

Oeta

🏛 place

geography

The Thessalian mountain where Heracles built his own funeral pyre and was consumed by fire, ascending to Olympus.

Thrace

🏛 place

Wild land of Ares and Orpheus

Thrace was the vast, wild region north of Greece — homeland of Ares, Orpheus, the Maenads, and the fearsome warrior tribes the Greeks both feared and respected.

Thracian

Lilybaeum

🏛 place

geography

The westernmost promontory of Sicily, near where Odysseus encountered the land of the dead in some traditions.