Atlanta the Greek goddess, ran so fast she could outrun everyone. The Gods would only permit her to marry a man ,who could beat her in the race. Melanion seriously smitten, decided to drop three heavy golden apples ,which he thought she could never resist picking up, in order to slow her down .Her feelings for Melanion were mutual, so she picked up the heavy apples. He won the race. Eventually Melanion offended the Gods and they were both turned into lions as a punishment. The ancient Greeks believed lions could only mate with leopards...Why? because Griks are little bit crazy:)
he ran fast, she faster
sacrificed her precious gift
sad but typical
Yes. Typical. Thanks for the myth-tory lesson.
ReplyDeleteShe wanted him to have him all along, otherwise she would have been happy with two golden apples and still won the race. Trying to pick up the third apple made her see sense. However from the lion/leopard mating theory I am beginning to wonder like you if many of the ancient Greeks had much sense.
ReplyDeleteWe owe them a lot. Read your history books.
ReplyDeleteSuch an enjoyable haibun... I enjoyed the myth lesson :) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe story brightens the haiku !
ReplyDeleteOh, we can learn so much from myths and their place in history. But it is a lesson we neglect.
ReplyDeleteAch .. the Gods .. what a pain! Great haibun though. :-)
ReplyDeleteHah, your last line. :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice haibun Rall. I like this Greek mythology stories. And ... I hope you don't think all man are like Melanion ...
ReplyDeletevery interesting... :-)
ReplyDeletereally enjoyed the story and your reflection on Greek mythology in your haiku
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!
ReplyDeleteNice story to go along with the haiku.
ReplyDeleteAs a Grik, I concur :-)
ReplyDeleteHa...I had you in mind when I wrote that last bit:)
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