Callisto

Callisto was a companion of Artemis in Arcadia, loved by Zeus and the mother of Arcas, the ancestor of the Arcadians. Her story ends with her transformation into a bear and her place among the stars as the constellation of the Great Bear. The ancient sources disagree on who her father was and who changed her into a bear.

Parentage

Most writers make Callisto the daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia (Pausanias 8.3.6; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1, who gives Hesiod as his authority). Apollodorus lists the rival versions: Eumelus and others said she was Lycaon’s daughter, Hesiod said she was one of the nymphs, Asius that she was a daughter of Nycteus, and Pherecydes that she was a daughter of Ceteus (Apollodorus, Library 3.8.2). The Tegean historian Araethus, quoted by Hyginus, said her name was Megisto and that she was Ceteus’s daughter and Lycaon’s granddaughter (Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1).

Zeus and Callisto

According to Apollodorus, Callisto hunted with Artemis, dressed as she did and swore to remain a maiden. Zeus loved her and slept with her against her will, taking the shape of Artemis, as some say, or of Apollo, as others say (Library 3.8.2). Ovid tells the same story in detail. Zeus, walking through Arcadia after he had restored the springs and forests, saw the girl from Nonacris, a huntress of Artemis who loved Mount Maenalus, resting alone in a forest at midday with her bow beside her. He took the form and dress of Diana, greeted her as a companion, kissed her, and overcame her resistance (Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.405–438).

Who Changed Her into a Bear

The sources give three culprits.

• Artemis. In the version attributed to Hesiod, Callisto was seen bathing when she was already pregnant. Artemis, enraged, turned her into a bear, and she bore Arcas (Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterisms 1, quoting Hesiod). Ovid also has Diana discover her condition: in the ninth month the goddess, tired from hunting, called her companions to bathe, and when Callisto’s clothes were taken from her, her pregnancy was plain. Diana banished her from the company (Metamorphoses 2.441–465). In Ovid it is Juno, not Diana, who then changes her.
• Hera. Pausanias reports the “current Greek legend” that Hera, discovering the affair, turned Callisto into a bear, and Artemis, to please Hera, shot the bear (Pausanias 8.3.6). Ovid’s Juno seizes Callisto by the hair, throws her to the ground, and as she stretches out her arms, black hair, claws and a bear’s jaws appear, and her voice is taken away; she keeps her human mind (Metamorphoses 2.466–488).
• Zeus. Apollodorus says Zeus, wishing to escape Hera’s notice, turned her into a bear himself, whereupon Hera persuaded Artemis to shoot her as a wild beast; he adds that some say Artemis shot her because she had not kept her maidenhood (Library 3.8.2).

Arcas

Her son by Zeus was Arcas. Apollodorus says that when Callisto died Zeus took the baby and gave it to Maia to bring up in Arcadia (Library 3.8.2), and Pausanias sends Hermes to save the child she carried in her womb (Pausanias 8.3.6). Arcas became king and gave the land its name: after he took the throne it was called Arcadia instead of Pelasgia and its people Arcadians (Pausanias 8.4.1). In Hesiod’s account, which has Arcas grown up, the mother is hunted by goatherds and brought with her baby to Lycaon; she later enters the forbidden precinct of Zeus without knowing the law, and Arcas and the Arcadians pursue her to kill her (Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterisms 1).

Callisto Among the Stars

In Ovid, Arcas at about fifteen meets the bear while hunting. She stops and looks at him as if she knew him; he does not recognize her and is about to pierce her with his spear when Zeus prevents the crime, snatches them both into the sky, and makes them neighbouring constellations (Metamorphoses 2.496–507). Hesiod’s version has Zeus save her from the Arcadians and set her among the stars, calling her the Bear because of her misfortune (Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterisms 1). Apollodorus says Zeus turned her into a star and called it the Bear (Library 3.8.2). Hyginus, telling the same version, adds that Zeus placed mother and son among the stars together, naming her the Bear and her son Arctophylax, the Bear-Watcher (Astronomica 2.1).

Ovid adds that Juno, furious, went down to Tethys and Oceanus and asked them not to allow the “concubine” into their waters; the sea gods agreed (Metamorphoses 2.508–531). Hyginus gives the same reason for the Bear never setting: Tethys, who had been Juno’s nurse, will not receive her (Astronomica 2.1).

Callisto’s Tomb

Pausanias saw Callisto’s grave in Arcadia: a high mound of earth planted with trees, with a sanctuary of Artemis called Calliste on top (Pausanias 8.35.8).

Callisto Sources

Apollodorus, Library 3.8.2; Pausanias 8.3.6, 8.4.1, 8.35.8; Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.401–541; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.1; Hesiod, as quoted in Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Catasterisms 1.

See Also: Zeus, Hera, Artemis, Lycaon, Arcas, Tethys, Oceanus, Hermes, Maia