King Oeneus, for reasons not totally clear, offended the goddess Artemis during a sacrifice, which he performed either negligently or poorly. The result was the appearance of a wild boar that ravages the countryside, uproots fruit trees and kills men. The forces of Calydon were unable to control the beast, so heroes from abroad were invited to deal with the animal under the leadership of Meleager. Unfortunately, he wanted the huntress Atalanta to join the hunters, while the other heroes disagreed. The hunt proceeded according to plan and the wild boar was killed. But here confusion ensued; some claimed that Atalanta wounded the boar and Meleager killed it, while other argued that Meleager did the deed on his own.