THE STORY OF ATLANTA

Question:

1 who did Hippomenes turn to for help?

2  Why did Hippomenes change his mind?

　　Atlanta（亚特兰大） was a Greek princess(希腊公主). She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Greece（希腊）. But she was not allowed（允许） to run in the Olympic Games（奥运会）. She was so angry that she said to her father she would not marry（嫁） anyone who could not run faster than her. Her father said she must marry and asked her if she wanted to marry a king or prince. But Atlanta replied，“I will only be married to a man who can run faster than me. When a man says he wants to marry me, I will run against him. If he cannot run as fast as me, he will be killed（被杀）. No one will be pardoned（宽恕）.”
　　Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta but when they heard of her rules, some of them sadly went home. Other men stayed to run the race. There was a man called Hippomenes（[希神]希波墨涅斯） who was amazed（吃惊的） when he heard of Atlanta’s rules. “Why are these men so foolish? Why will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast as this princess?” Then when he saw Atlanta came out of her house to run, Hippomenes changed his mind. “I will marry Atlanta-or die!” he said. 
　　The race started and although（尽管） the man ran very fast, Atlanta ran faster. As Hippomenes watched, he thought, “How can I run as fast as Atlanta?” He went to ask for help from the Greek Goddess of Love（希腊的爱神）. She promised（答应） to help him and gave him three golden apples. She said, “Throw an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running past and she will be relaxed（放松）. When she stops to pick it up, you will be able to run on and win.”
　　Hippomenes took the apples and went to the King. He said, “I want to marry Atlanta.” The King was sad to see another man die, but Hippomenes said, “I will marry her – or die!” So the race began.