<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
For an American --or anyone else for that matter-- Atalanta is a character
from Greek myth. Like her protectress Artemis (the Roman Diana), she was
a virgin and hunter. She was also the Flo-Jo (Olympian Florence Griffiths-Joyner)
of her day, the fastest woman around. In fact, she bet her virginity that
no man could ever catch her. The side bet was if the suitor failed, she
poked <i>him</i> with <i>her</i> spear when she caught him.
<p>Also worth noting, the French film, <i>L'Atalante</i>, a small masterpiece
by Jean Vigo. The film has little to do with the myth, but it takes place
on and off a barge called <i>l'Atalante</i>. Like the Odyssey for Joyce's
Ulysses, the myth is a sort of touchstone for story points. (If you want
to bother!)
<p> Y'a bon,
<br> JAFisk
<br>
<br>
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><nobr><b>From: </b>Frank Stajano <fstajano@uk.research.att.com></nobr>
<div WRAP>By the way, what is Atalanta for an American? To me it's the
name of an <br>
Italian football team I heard when I was in primary school -- no idea if <br>
they still exist. However I suspect it might be something different in
the <br>
context of the Barks book.<br>
<BR></div>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>