Atalanta

Atalanta's father wanted a son and exposed her on a hillside as an infant. A she-bear suckled her, hunters raised her, and she grew up dedicated to Artemis and better in the wild than any of them. When two centaurs attacked her she killed them both with arrows, which is the myths' way of establishing that she is not a novelty.

Her proving ground was the Calydonian Boar hunt. A monstrous boar sent by Artemis was ravaging Calydon, and the heroes of Greece assembled to kill it. Several objected to hunting alongside a woman. Atalanta drew first blood, and when Meleager killed the beast he awarded her the hide — a decision that started a family war and eventually got him killed.

Her father reclaimed her once she was famous and wanted her married. She agreed to one condition: she would race each suitor, and any man who lost would be killed. She beat all of them, in some versions running fully armed while they ran unencumbered.

Hippomenes beat her by not racing. He asked Aphrodite for help and was given three golden apples, and each time Atalanta drew ahead he rolled one across her path. She stopped for each. Whether she was greedy or curious or deliberately choosing him is exactly the question the myth refuses to settle.

The marriage ended badly. The pair failed to thank Aphrodite, or profaned a sanctuary of Zeus, and were turned into lions — which the Greeks believed could not mate with each other, so the punishment was a separation disguised as a shared shape.