Meleager kills a boar at the Louvre museum, Paris

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Meleager joins the Argonauts hunters and sets sail from Hellas to Colchis in Caucasus to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Upon their return, many participants join what is known as the Calydonian Boar Hunt. This hunt takes place because Meleager's father, King Oeneus of Calydon, forgets Artemis while sacrificing the first fruits of the annual crops to all gods. To punish his negligence, Artemis sends a massive boar that prevents land from being sown and destroys cattle and people. King Oeneus assembles the noblest men in Hellas—the Calydonian hunters—promising to give the Boar's skin as a prize to whoever kills it. Led by Meleager, they hunt the boar, which is first shot by Atalanta. After her, Amphiaraus shoots it in the eye, and then Meleager finishes it with a stab in the flank. However, upon receiving the skin as a prize, Meleager gives it to Atalanta because he's in love with her. The sons of Thestius, who took part in the hunt representing the Curetes—a people from Aetolia—disapprove of Meleager's gallant gesture because they believe a woman shouldn't get a prize in front of men. They reason that if Meleager didn't take the skin, it belongs to them by right of birth. Meleager refuses to accept instructions on what to do with his prize and kills the sons of Thestius, giving the skin to Atalanta.