The myth of Callisto, the maiden who shines in the firmament

There are many different versions of the Callisto myth, although in all of them there are common elements.. This is the story of one of the several conquests of Zeus, who had a special weakness for extramarital affairs, but one way or another he was always discovered by his wife Hera.

The myth of Callisto tells that this was a woman very beautiful. In fact, the name “Callisto” means ‘the most beautiful’. In most versions of this story, the beautiful woman was the daughter of King Lycaon. This was a very unique character, who had had a total of 50 children, all by different women.

It is said that King Lycaon, a cultured and very religious man, helped his people grow and develop. He founded a city called Lycosura and there he built a temple to Zeus, in which he frequently made sacrifices. He even made human sacrifices: He took the lives of foreigners who came to his kingdom as an offering to the gods.

Zeus

The family of the beautiful Calisto

Zeus was upset when he learned of Lycaon’s practices. Your custom went against the sacred law of blessed hospitalityhighly appreciated by the Greeks.

Annoyed by these exaggerated sacrifices, Zeus himself decided to pose as a pilgrim and visit Lycaon’s house. He, who suspected the divine origin of his guest, killed one of his slaves, cooked it and served it to the supposed foreigner. Zeus became angry and turned the king into a wolf. . He then set fire to the palace and left.

The many sons of Lycaon, who did not suffer the consequences of the punishment, soon became famous for their arrogance and lack of compassion. Again the rumor reached the ears of Zeus, who this time disguised himself as a beggar and he arrived at the palace where they lived.

The princes murdered one of their brothers and served his entrails to Zeus as dinner, mixed with those of some animals. Realizing this, the king of Olympus He turned them all into wolves and then destroyed his palace with lightning., while giving life back to the sacrificed brother. By then, Calisto was far away.

The myth of Callisto

The myth of Callisto says that this beautiful woman dedicated herself to the service of Artemis. She was the goddess of the hunt and queen of nature. This divinity required that all the women who were part of his courtship be virgins, since she herself had taken a vow of chastity and did not tolerate the closeness of men, whether gods or mortals.

However, when Zeus saw Callisto he fell in love with her beauty immediately. As was her custom, he tried to seduce her, but in vain. So He took the form of the god Apollo, twin brother of Artemis, and through tricks and cunning he achieved his purpose..

After that meeting, Calisto became pregnant. One day, Artemis asked her and other women in her entourage to go for a swim in the river. When Callisto was naked, the goddess noticed that her belly had grown and she deduced that she was pregnant. For breaking the vow of chastity, Artemis immediately expelled her.

Sagebrush

A constellation in the sky

The myth of Calisto tells that the young woman went into exile, but The story reached the ears of Hera, the wife of Zeus, and in revenge she turned her into a bear.. Anyway, she had a son named Arcas or Arcade, but she was separated from him and had to wander for years in the forest.

Much later, Callisto spotted Arcas, her son, in the thicket. She recognized him immediately and ran to hug him. He had become a strong young man and was hunting in that place. When the boy saw her approaching, he took his bow and arrow and shot her. To him she was nothing more than an animal.

Zeus, who noticed everything, decided to prevent the young man from killing his own mother. So before the arrow hit her He turned Callisto into a constellation, so that it would shine in the sky and will achieve immortality.

At the same time, he transformed Arcas into another minor constellation, to give him the same gifts and allow him to always be with his mother. This is how the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper were formed, which still remain united in the sky.

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