Meleager (Met. 8.260-546)

Meleager angers his mother, Althea, by killing her brothers during an argument. Althea retaliates by burning a firebrand that holds her son's life-force. Meleager perishes in a fiery death.

Model play.

The Meleager of Euripides (now lost). This is an ideal topic for an Ovidian who can read Greek.

Areas to explore.

What did the lost Euripidean model cover? To what extent is this story tragic, especially given its grand, cosmic perspective? How does the figure of the ephebe factor into this episode?

Bibliography.

• A. Hollis, Ovid, Metamorphoses Book VIII.
• N. Horsfall, "Epic and Burlesque in Ovid, Met. VIII 260ff."
• P. Vidal-Naquet, "The Black Hunter."
• T. B. L. Webster, The Tragedies of Euripides.