response 1 of 5:

Feb 11 06:54 UTC 1999

hrm..it seems a bit cliched-- anyway around that, perhaps?

response 3 of 5:

Feb 22 07:35 UTC 1999

Hmm.  I don't know.  Which part seems cliched?

(geez, I figured more than just Jon would say something)

response 5 of 5:

Feb 23 05:21 UTC 1999

Atalanta's parentage is uncertain. One possibility is King Iasus with 
Clymene. She came into the world in the undesirable state of being 
female. As a result her Father had her carried into the woods
and left exposed to die. Instead, she was raised during her childhood by 
a bear. As she grew older she began to spend time with hunters and was 
soon the best amongst them. She loved hunting and the outdoors and had 
no use for a man in her life. She also received an oracle that her 
marriage would end in disaster. She had no compunction in defending her 
virginity. When the centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaeus attempted to rape her 
she quickly killed them with her arrows...

She achieved enough [fame as a huntress and a hero] that her Father 
forgave her for not being a son and allowed her to return home.  Once 
there he attempted to fulfill his fatherly obligations by finding her a 
husband. For her to simply refuse might arouse dangerous resentment. 
Instead she proposed a test. The successful suitor would have to beat 
her in a foot race. Losing suitors would be beheaded by her. As Atalanta 
was one of the fastest mortals this appeared to insure her maidenhood. 

For quite some time this worked. Some say that she evened the odds by 
wearing armor while she ran. Others say that she gave the suitors a head 
start of half the distance. In any case the heads stacked up.

Melanion fell in love with her. He knew that he was not fast enough to 
win the race. So he did what many frustrated lovers have done. He prayed 
to Aphrodite for help. Aphrodite has a weakness for lovers and a concern 
about those that reject romance to the degree that Atalanta did. 
Aphrodite presented Melanion with three golden apples and a plan. In 
return Melanion was to sacrifice to Aphrodite.

Melanion then ran his race with Atalanta carrying the apples with him. 
When Atalanta caught up to him he tossed the first apple at her feet. 
The sight of the magic golden apple was irresistible to Atalanta. She 
stopped to pick it up confident that she could make up the time. Soon 
enough she was once again passing Melanion. He threw the second apple, 
this time further to the side. Again, she lost time retrieving the 
apple. As she again caught up the finish line was near and chasing the 
third thrown apple cost her the race.

Despite her resistance once won marriage seemed to suit Atalanta. 
Melanion's happiness and joy was so great he completely forgot his 
obligations to sacrifice to Aphrodite. As usual when messing
up with the gods payback was severe.

Aphrodite waited until Melanion and Atalanta were passing a shrine to a 
god, possibly Zeus. She then hit them with overwhelming desire. Melanion 
took Atalanta into the shrine and lay with her. At this point the 
infuriated god turned them both into lions. This was regarded by the 
Greeks as particularly poetic as they believed that lions could mate 
only with leopards.

(Information provided by 
http://www.kirch.net/~bruce/Greek/atalanta.html)