Atalante

Her father was Iasos, a king in ancient Greece and her mother was his queen. The king wanted an heir and had very strongly suggested his wife to make sure that her first baby would be a son. The queen did all she could to please her husband, even consulted an oracle, but well, nature follows his own path and the first baby was a girl. The king was furious and ordered the baby to be killed but later that night he settled for banishment instead. The baby was to be brought to the Parthenion mountain.
But luck was on her side. First the baby is rescued by the goddesses Artemis, Hecatos, Afrodite and Hera, and blessed by them. They also was gave her a magic dagger. Shortly thereafter she is found by creatures that live in the forest, like Elves, Fauns and common animals. Here she is raised and from these people who live very close to nature she learns the language and habits of animals.
When Atalante is eleven or twelve years old the forest is invaded by hunters and they kidnap the girl. They thought Atalante was a rare wood creature but when they learned she was just human they lost interest in her. She wasn't mistreated by the hunters and she learned from them the art of staying alive.
Atalante now had spent time with both animals and men and she felt lost by by both. She didn´t really belong to one of these communities. So she decided to try to one day live with and like the Amazons. Before that she wanted to become one of the Argonauts and indeed she did sailed with them.

Series Atalante, © Editions Soleil 2000
Dutch Edition © Uitgeverij Blitz c.v.
Artwork taken from volume 1 Het Pact (Le Pacte) and volume 2, Nautiliaa

Text and artwork: Didier Chrispeels (Crisse). Coloring: Anyk.

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