| Meleager | Gallery | Videos |
"His reputation is great enough to make whole villages surrender without any thought."
- ―Damon, "The Prodigal"
Meleager the Mighty was a recurring character on Xena: Warrior Princess. He was a famed hero of Greece, most notable for defeating 317 men at the battle of Liguria. While he was a fearless champion, he was also a constant drunk. Drink seemed to come before his work, and this has resulted in mishaps due to drink.
When Gabrielle was at the Athens Academy, he inadvertantly met Xena whilst drunk and hiding in a stable block. She had killed a man that tried to attack her, but the man fell into the path of Meleager who ended up taking the blame for the murder when a witness to the scene reported what she saw.
When the warlord Damon began ransacking towns and sent word that he was heading for Potedia, they hired Meleager to defend the village. Gabrielle showed up at this point, who helped Lila keep Meleager in shape and away from alcohol. After he was shown his cash payment, he took the money and used it to buy weapons and defeat Damon. After saving Potedia and ending Damon's reign, he vowed to stay away from drink from then on.
His past incident with Xena returned to haunt him, after he was caught by the authorities, and, under the orders of Judge Arbus (who had a reputation of "being a fair and just man"), he was sentenced to death for murder. Although Xena did not at first remember the night that she had killed the man herself, she did recollect the situation when she saw the unique sword that was used to kill him - a medium sized blade, with a skull and crossbones on its hilt. After investigating some more, she realized that Arbus' reputed ways of fairness were lies, building his career on a case in which he executed an accused man when he knew he was innocent. Xena saved Meleager from his execution and explained the true events of that night. After threatening to expose Arbus to the town, he pardoned Meleager and they were let off the hook.
Background information[]
- In mythology, Meleager is the brother of Deianeira and the love interest of Atalanta.
- Meleager's armor closely resembles that of a samurai, suggesting he had visited Jappa at some point before the events of A Friend in Need Part I and A Friend in Need Part II where Xena and Gabrielle travelled to help stop Yodoshi.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||