Short answers, pulled from the story.
Atalanta is a heroine in Greek mythology who appears in two regional versions: one from Arcadia, daughter of Iasus and Clymene, known for the Calydonian boar hunt and the Argonauts; and one from Boeotia, daughter of King Schoeneus, known for her skill in the footrace. In both versions she was a devotee of the goddess Artemis and a celebrated hunter.
Atalanta was left exposed on Mount Parthenion by her father Iasus, who had wanted a son. A she-bear, one of the symbols of Artemis whose cubs had been killed by hunters, found and nursed her. Those same hunters later discovered Atalanta and raised her in the mountains.
Atalanta was the first to wound the Calydonian boar, drawing first blood with her bow and arrows before any of the men landed a strike. Meleager awarded her the boar's hide for her valor, but his uncles Plexippus and Toxeus took it from her, leading Meleager to kill them both.
Hippomenes prayed to Aphrodite, who gave him three irresistible golden apples. During the race he tossed one apple at a time off the course each time Atalanta overtook him. She veered off the path to retrieve each apple, losing enough ground for Hippomenes to win.
Hippomenes forgot to thank Aphrodite after winning the race. While the couple were hunting, the goddess afflicted them with such passion that they had sex inside a sanctuary belonging to either Zeus or Rhea. They were turned into lions for this sacrilege by Artemis, Cybele, or Zeus, depending on the version.
The Italian football club Atalanta, based in Bergamo, takes its name from the heroine and bears her face on its crest. The European Union's anti-piracy mission in Somalia is called Operation Atalanta. Algernon Charles Swinburne published a play titled Atalanta in Calydon in 1865, and Jennifer Saint published a novel titled Atalanta in 2023.