Atalanta

by Jennifer Saint

She could have been any young woman: simply dressed, not weighed down by precious metals or fussy ornaments. Only her fearlessness marked her out, the steady determination of her gaze, her ease, and her unapologetic confidence.

Jason thought the world was built for heroes. I knew we had to build it ourselves.

I didn’t have to be an obedient follower of Artemis, jumping to serve her every command; I didn’t have to be a hero in the mold of Jason or Heracles or the angry boar hunters at Calydon. I wasn’t going to try to shape myself to be like one of them, a ruthless, self-serving, glory-seeking man. I was something different from them all.