Just as Arcas was about to kill his own mother with his javelin, Jupiter averted the tragedy by placing mother and son amongst the stars as Ursa Major and Minor, respectively. Sixteen years later Callisto, still a bear, encountered her son Arcas hunting in the forest. Juno then took the opportunity to avenge her wounded pride and transformed the nymph into a bear. Diana became enraged when she saw that Callisto was pregnant and expelled her from the group. Callisto's subsequent pregnancy was discovered several months later while she was bathing with Diana and her fellow nymphs. The real Diana arrived in the scene soon after and called Callisto to her, only for the girl to run away in fear she was Jupiter, until she noticed the nymphs accompanying the goddess. Callisto recognized that something was wrong the moment Jupiter started giving her "non-virginal kisses", but by that point it was too late, and even though she fought him off, he overpowered her. Īccording to Ovid, it was Jupiter who took the form of Diana so that he might evade his wife Juno's detection, forcing himself upon Callisto while she was separated from Diana and the other nymphs. Jupiter in the Guise of Diana Seducing Callisto, Jacob Adriaensz Backer, oil on canvasĮratosthenes also mentions a variation in which the virginal companion of Artemis that was seduced by Zeus and eventually transformed into the constellation Ursa Minor was named Phoenice instead. Some while after, she thought fit to go into the forbidden precinct of Zeus, not knowing the law, and being pursued by her own son and the Arcadians, was about to be killed because of the said law but Zeus delivered her because of her connection with him and put her among the stars, giving her the name Bear because of the misfortune which had befallen her. But while she was in the mountains, she was hunted by some goat-herds and given up with her babe to Lycaon. Thus she became a bear and gave birth to a son called Arcas. Upon this, the goddess was enraged and changed her into a beast. chose to occupy herself with wild-beasts in the mountains together with Artemis, and, when she was seduced by Zeus, continued some time undetected by the goddess, but afterwards, when she was already with child, was seen by her bathing and so discovered. Titian's Diana and Callisto (1559) portrays the moment when Callisto's pregnancy is discovered.Īs a follower of Artemis, Callisto, who Hesiod said was the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, took a vow to remain a virgin, as did all the nymphs of Artemis.Īccording to Hesiod, she was seduced by Zeus, and of the consequences that followed: The fourth Galilean moon of Jupiter and a main belt asteroid are named after Callisto. She was the bear-mother of the Arcadians, through her son Arcas by Zeus. Later, just as she was about to be killed by her son when he was hunting, she was set among the stars as Ursa Major ("the Great Bear") by Zeus. She became pregnant and when this was eventually discovered, she was expelled from Artemis's group, after which a furious Hera, the wife of Zeus, transformed her into a bear, although in some versions Artemis is the one to give her an ursine form. According to some writers, Zeus transformed himself into the figure of Artemis to pursue Callisto, and she slept with him believing Zeus to be Artemis. Many versions of Callisto's story survive. She was believed to be one of the followers of Artemis ( Diana for the Romans) who attracted Zeus. In Greek mythology, Callisto or Kallisto ( / k ə ˈ l ɪ s t oʊ/ Ancient Greek: Καλλιστώ Greek pronunciation: ) was a nymph, or the daughter of King Lycaon the myth varies in such details. Artemis (seated and wearing a radiate crown), the beautiful nymph Callisto (left), Eros and other nymphs.
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