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Dec 4, 2009
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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—M

Meleager

Distinguished for throwing the javelin. He slew the Calydonian boar. It was declared by the fates that he would die as soon as a piece of wood then on the fire was burnt up; whereupon his mother snatched the log from the fire and extinguished it; but after Meleager had slain his maternal uncles, his mother threw the brand on the fire again, and Meleager died.

The death of Meleager was a favourite subject in ancient reliefs. The famous picture of Charles le Brun is in the Musee Imperiale of Paris.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Melesigenes
Melchisedeoians
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