Classification: Mythical

Actaeon was born onto Aristaeus and Autono. Though not much is known about this hunter's life, his death was told as a Greek lesson. The legend goes that the hunter had wandered into Artemis's cave just as she had unrobed to bathe. He had unfortunately caught sight of her and Artemis punished him by throwing water into his face while saying a phrase. This transformed the hunter into a white stag, in which realizing that his dogs would kill him, he ran. His own dogs caught up to him, tearing him to pieces.

Although this may have not have been the case. Rumors float around that he was arrogant and claimed he was a better hunter than Artemis. Others claim that Actaeon wished to take advantage of Artemis possibly by marriage. Another rumor suggests that Zeus was behind it to prevent Actaeon from marrying Semele.

There of course is another version of this story that is quite different. In this version, Actaeon was the son of Melissus. Maenad Archias fell in love with Actaeon and tried to abduct him. His father fought with her in which Actaeon somehow got torn to pieces. Melissus demanded justice in which Maenad was expelled from the city.