Atalanta

Atalanta was a Greek athlete and heroine.

Atalanta first met Hercules when the hero came to her forge looking for nails to fix Janista's roof. She was immediately attracted to him. She told him that her assistant, Ximenos hadn't shown up for work that day and Hercules went searching for him. Later, Atalanta was possessed by Ares. He forced her to create an arsenal of swords which he gave to an army of young followers, including Ximenos. When Atalanta was free of Ares' control, she told Hercules what had happened and helped the hero to free the young soldiers from Ares' evil (HTLJ "Ares").

After the death of her brother, Atalanta moved in with her nephew, Damon, to take care of him. She was disappointed when Damon wanted to become a soldier and began fighting with the Spartans against the Eleans. When Hercules arrived, she suggested that he might be the one to put an end to the fighting. In response, he created the Olympic Games so that the soldiers would have an avenue to prove themselves besides war. Atalanta helped organize the event and she was the very first Olympic winner in the javelin contest (HTLJ "Let the Games Begin").

Atalanta was in love with Hercules. Since Hercules thought of her only as a friend, she created a steel statue of the hero which Hephaestus brought to life. Though the statue looked and sounded like Hercules, it had an infant-like intelligence. Atalanta tried to forge a relationship with the Statue but realized it was a mistake when Discord used the statue to wreak havoc on a town (HTLJ "If I Had a Hammer...").

Background

Atalanta was immortalized in plastic as an action figure by ToyBiz.
Atalanta's association with Hephaestus and her occupation as a blacksmith do not appear in mythology.
The mythological Atalanta was an Argonaut and her love interest was Meleager, with whom she took part in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.