In Greek mythology, Melanion (Ancient Greek: Μελανίων, romanized: Melaníōn) or Milanion (Ancient Greek: Μειλανίων, romanized: Meilaníōn) is an Arcadian prince who married Atalanta, the fearsome huntress who killed the Calydonian boar. In ancient sources Melanion is often conflated with Atalanta's husband Hippomenes, but is not entirely interchangeable with him, and the two likely originated from independent traditions.
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Family
Melanion was the son of Amphidamas, a prince of Arcadia, and so the brother of Antimache. Amphidamas was the brother of Iasus, Atalanta's father in the Arcadian version, making Melanion and his wife first cousins.
Atalanta and her husband
The Boeotian story of Atalanta and Hippomenes' footrace, already recorded in the archaic poem Catalogue of Women, goes that Atalanta only accepted to marry the man who would beat her in a footrace. Hippomenes was no match for her speed, but he was given three golden apples by love-goddess Aphrodite that he dropped on three occasions during the footrace; each time Atalanta halted to pick up the apple, losing time and allowing Hippomenes to overtake her and take the victory and her hand in marriage. But he neglected to properly thank Aphrodite for her support, so some time later she inspired uncontrollable lust in them and the two had sex inside a temple dedicated to Zeus or Cybele, so the offended deity transformed them both into lions.
One of the earliest accounts for Melanion's story is Aristophanes' comedic play Lysistrata, which differs significantly from other accounts. In it, the male chorus says that Melanion avoided marriage and withdrew to the mountains, hunting wild game with nets he wove and never returning home out of hatred for women. Although there could be some lesser-known narrative where Melanion was more like the Euripidean Hippolytus, the male chorus could be twisting the tale to make a point.
In some versions the Arcadian Melanion supplants the Boeotian Hippomenes as the man who marries Atalanta in spite of her wilfully avoiding marriage, although his way of wooing the maiden is often overlooked by ancient testimonies. Melanion is sometimes presented as the winner of the footrace. As a hunter who avoided marriage, Melanion can be seen as a male counterpart to Atalanta.