CALLISTO (nymph in Greek mythology)

Zeus loved Callisto, which caused Hera to become angry with her, and he seduced her, mating with her against her will.^4,1,5 He disguised himself as Artemis or Apollo to approach her, and she entered the forbidden precinct of Zeus without knowing the law.^1,3 Artemis discovered the pregnancy when she saw Callisto bathing, revealing the breach of the maidenhood vow.^3,1 Hera, angry at the affair, transformed Callisto into a bear, a shaggy-limbed beast resembling a lioness with a fierce eye.^5,4,2 Accounts differ on the agent of the transformation, with some saying Zeus did it to hide her from Hera, while others say Artemis acted out of anger.^1,3

After the change, Callisto moved on four paws and entered the bed of Zeus in her new form.² She gave birth to a son named Arcas, whom Zeus saved and named.^1,3,6,7 Zeus ordered Hermes to save the child she carried in her womb, and the infant was given to Maia for upbringing in Arcadia.^5,1 Goat-herds hunted the bear and handed her and her baby to Lycaon, her father.³ Her son and the Arcadians pursued her to kill her, and she was killed by a shot from a silver bow.^3,8 Hera had persuaded Artemis to shoot Callisto as a wild beast, and Artemis shot the bear to please Hera.^1,5

Zeus saved her from death due to their connection and placed her among the stars as a constellation known as the Bear.^3,1 He named her Bear because of her misfortune, though it is possible the constellation is only named in her honor rather than being her actual form.^3,9 The same story of divine love and transformation is told for her as for Io, citing her as an example of a woman transformed into a beast.^4,10 Callisto changed her state of sorrow through this transformation into an animal.²

The Arcadians point out a grave belonging to Callisto, a high mound of earth located about thirty stades from the spring Cruni.^9,11 Many trees, both cultivated and wild, grow on this mound, and a sanctuary of Artemis stands on its top.¹¹ In depictions, she lies with a bearskin instead of a mattress, and her feet are positioned on the knees of Nomia.¹² Neleus demanded the oxen of Iphiclus as the bride-price for her, and some writers identify a sister of Odysseus with the same name.^12,13 Her parentage varies in other accounts, with Asius stating she was the daughter of Nycteus and Pherecydes identifying her as the daughter of Ceteus.¹