Callisto (mythology)

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This article is about the mythological figure. For other meanings, see Callisto.

From Greek mythology, Callisto was the daughter of Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, and possibly a nymph. Her name is derived from kalliste (καλλιστη), meaning "most beautiful."

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The myth

A follower of Artemis, she took a vow to remain a virgin. But Zeus fell in love with her and disguised himself as Apollo in order to lure her into his embrace. Hera, Zeus' wife, then turned Callisto into a bear out of revenge. Later, Arcas, the son of Callisto and Zeus, nearly killed her in a hunt but Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

An alternate version: One of Artemis' companions, Callisto lost her virginity to Zeus, who had come disguised as Artemis. Enraged, Artemis changed her into a bear. Callisto's son, Arcas, nearly killed his mother while hunting, but Zeus or Artemis stopped him and placed them both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

Another alternate version: Artemis killed Callisto in bear form, deliberately.

Hera was not pleased with the placement of Callisto and Arcas in the sky, so she asked her nurse, Tethys, to help. Tethys, a marine goddess, cursed the constellations to forever circle the sky and never drop below the horizon, hence explaining why they are circumpolar.

Another version, from Ovid's Metamorphoses: Jupiter falls in love with Callisto and disguises himself as Diana (Artemis) for the same reasons above. Juno, the wife of Jupiter, does not see Callisto's vain attempts to reject Jupiter's advances. When Artemis, tired from hunting, decides to bathe in the nude with her followers, she sees Callisto's stomach and realizes that she is no longer a virgin. Out of revenge, Juno eventually turns Callisto into a bear. Later, when Arcas unknowingly meets his mother Callisto in the forest, Jupiter prevents Arcas from spearing Callisto and brings both of them into the stars for Callisto to become Ursa Major or the Great Bear and Arcas to become Arcas the Bear Warden, Little Bear, or Ursa Minor.

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Origin of the myth

The myth may be derived from the fact that a set of constellations appear close together in the sky, in and near the Zodiac sign of Libra, namely Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Boötes, and Virgo.

Boötes, since it resembles a male stick-figure, is in some versions of the myth explicitly identified as Arcas (untransformed), and was in myths elsewhere said represents a male god. Virgo, since it resembles a female, was usually considered to be a significant female goddess, though not identified as to whom.

The combination of a god and goddess and two bears in the same area of sky may have led to a transformation myth, associating the bears either as the god and goddess transformed, or as some thing they have cast out. The circumpolarity of the bears adding an extra detail to the myth.

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