Introduction
Callisto is a nymph, one of the huntress-companions of Artemis sworn to virginity, who was pursued by Zeus and, as a result, became the mother of Arcas, from whom the region of Arcadia takes its name. Her punishment at Hera's hands and eventual fate among the stars make her story one of the more poignant in Greek myth.
This figure marks the point where the genealogy of the gods gives way to the genealogy of heroes. A fuller account of their adventures belongs to a separate treatment of the Greek Heroic Cycle; this article covers their divine parentage and place in that transition.
Family
- Husband: Zeus
- Son: Arcas
Zeus's deception and Hera's punishment
Zeus, in most versions, approached Callisto in the guise of Artemis herself to win her trust before revealing his true form. When her pregnancy was later discovered, Artemis expelled her from her band of companions, and Hera, in jealous fury, transformed her into a bear.
Arcas and the constellations
Callisto, as a bear, nearly encountered and was almost killed by her own son Arcas years later while he was out hunting, unaware of what his mother had become. Zeus intervened at the last moment, transforming them both into constellations: Callisto as Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and Arcas as Ursa Minor or Boötes, in different versions, placing them safely in the sky together forever.