Hero Tales | Page 7

that her Acarnanian kinsmen
might prevail against him. Upon the hard earth she knelt: she beat the
ground with her hands, and heaped the dust about her; and, weeping
bitter tears, she called upon Hades to avenge her of Meleager. And
even as she prayed, the pitiless Furies, wandering amid the darkness,
heard her cries, and came, obedient to her wishes.
"When Meleager heard that his mother had turned against him, he
withdrew in sorrow to his own house, and sought comfort and peace
with his wife, fair Cleopatra; and he would not lead his warriors any
more to battle against the Acarnanians. Then the enemy besieged the
city: a fearful tumult rose about the gates; the high towers were
assaulted, and everywhere the Calydonians were driven back dismayed
and beaten.
"With uplifted hands and tearful eyes, King Oineus and the elders of
the city came to Meleager, and besought him to take the field again.
Rich gifts they offered him. They bade him choose for his own the
most fertile farm in Calydon--at the least fifty acres, half for tillage and
half for vines; but he would not listen to them.
"The din of battle thickened outside the gates; the towers shook with
the thundering blows of the besiegers. Old Oineus with trembling limbs
climbed up the stairway to his son's secluded chamber, and, weeping,
prayed him to come down and save the city from fire and pillage. Still
he kept silent, and went not. His sisters came, and his most trusted
friends. 'Come, Meleager,' they prayed, 'forget thy grief, and think only
of our great need. Aid thy people, or we shall all perish!'

"None of these prayers moved him. The gates were beaten down; the
enemy was within the walls; the tide of battle shook the very tower
where Meleager sat; the doom of Calydon seemed to be sealed. Then
came the fair Cleopatra, and knelt before her husband, and besought
him to withhold no longer the aid which he alone could give. 'O
Meleager,' she sobbed, 'none but thou can save us. Wilt thou sit still,
and see the city laid in ashes, thy dearest friends slaughtered, and thy
wife and sweet babes dragged from their homes and sold into cruel
slavery?'
"Then Meleager rose and girded on his armor. To the streets he
hastened, shouting his well-known battle cry. Eagerly and hopefully
did the Calydonian warriors rally around him. Fiercely did they meet
the foe. Terrible was the bloodshed. Back from the battered gates and
the crumbling wall the Acarnanian hosts were driven. A panic seized
upon them. They turned and fled, and not many of them escaped the
swords of Meleager's men.
"Again there was peace in Calydon, and the orchards of King Oineus
blossomed and bore fruit as of old; but the gifts and large rewards
which the elders had promised to Meleager were forgotten. He had
saved his country, but his countrymen were ungrateful.
"Meleager again laid aside his war gear, and sought the quiet of his
own home and the cheering presence of fair Cleopatra. For the
remembrance of his mother's curse and his country's ingratitude
weighed heavily on his mind, and he cared no longer to mingle with his
fellow men.
"Then it was that Althea's hatred of her son waxed stronger, and she
thought of the half-burned brand which she had hidden, and of the
words which the Fatal Sisters had spoken so many years before.
"'He is no longer my son,' said she, 'and why should I withhold the
burning of the brand? He can never again bring comfort to my heart;
for the blood of my brothers, whom I loved, is upon his head.'
"And she took the charred billet from the place where she had hidden it,
and cast it again into the flames. And as it slowly burned away, so did
the life of Meleager wane. Lovingly he bade his wife farewell; softly he
whispered a prayer to the unseen powers above; and as the flickering
flames of the fatal brand died into darkness, he gently breathed his last.
"Then sharp-toothed remorse seized upon Althea, and the mother love

which had slept in her bosom was reawakened. Too late, also, the folk
of Calydon remembered who it was that had saved them from slavery
and death. Down into the comfortless halls of Hades, Althea hastened
to seek her son's forgiveness. The loving heart of Cleopatra, surcharged
with grief, was broken; and her gentle spirit fled to the world of shades
to meet that of her hero-husband. Meleager's sisters would not be
consoled, so great was the sorrow which had come upon them; and they
wept and lamented day and night, until kind Artemis in pity for their
youth changed them into the birds which we call Meleagrides."