Callisto. Seduced by Zeus as Diana. In Greek mythology, Callisto or Kallisto was a nymph, or the daughter of King Lycaon; the myth varies in such details. She was one of the followers of Artemis, or Diana for the Romans, who attracted Zeus. He transformed himself into the figure of Artemis and raped her in this disguise. She became pregnant and when this was eventually discovered, she was expelled from Artemis's group, after which a furious Hera transformed her into a bear. 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. She was the bear-mother of the Arcadians, through her son Arcas by Zeus. The fourth Galilean moon of Jupiter is named after Callisto. Genealogy Name Relation Lycaon Father Arcas Son/grand-uncle 50 sons of Lycaon Brothers Dia Sister Psophis Sister Pelasgus Grandfather Meliboea Grandmother Zeus Great-grandfather Niobe Great-grandmother Oceanus Great-grandfather Tethys Great-grandmother Apheidas Grandson Elatus Grandson Azan Grandson Hyperippe Granddaughter Triphylus Grandson Diomeneia Granddaughter Erymanthus Grandson As 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. But to have sex with her, Zeus disguised himself as Artemis herself, in order to lure her into his embrace. Callisto was then turned into a bear, as Hesiod described:.but afterwards, when she was already with child, was seen bathing and so discovered. Upon this, the goddess was enraged and changed her into a beast. Thus she became a bear and gave birth to a son called Arcas. Either Artemis slew Kallisto with a shot of her silver bow, perhaps urged by the wrath of Juno or later Arcas, the eponym of Arcadia, nearly killed his bear-mother, when she had wandered into the forbidden precinct of Zeus. In every case, Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellations Ursa Major, called Arktos, the Bear, by Greeks, and Ursa Minor. According 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. Callisto's subsequent pregnancy was discovered several months later while she was bathing with Diana and her fellow nymphs. Diana became enraged when she saw that Callisto was pregnant and expelled her from the group. Callisto later gave birth to Arcas. Juno then took the opportunity to avenge her wounded pride and transformed the nymph into a bear. Sixteen years later Callisto, still a bear, encountered her son Arcas hunting in the forest. 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. Juno, enraged that her attempt at revenge had been frustrated, appealed to Tethys that the two might never meet her waters, thus providing a poetic explanation for their circumpolar positions in ancient times. Callisto's story was sometimes depicted in classical art, where the moment of transformation into a bear was the most popular. From the Renaissance on a series of major history paintings as well as many smaller cabinet paintings and book illustrations, usually called Diana and Callisto, depicted the traumatic moment of discovery of the pregnancy, as the goddess and her nymphs bathed in a pool, following Ovid's account. The subject's attraction was undoubtedly mainly the opportunity it offered for a group of several females to be shown largely nude. Titian's Diana and Callisto, was the greatest of these, quickly disseminated by a print by Cornelius Cort. Here, as in most subsequent depictions, Diana points angrily, as Callisto is held by two nymphs, who may be pulling off what little clothing remains on her. Other versions include one by Rubens, and Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto by Rembrandt, which unusually combines the moment with the arrival of Actaeon. The basic composition is rather unusually consistent. Carlo Ridolfi said there was a version by Giorgione, who died in 1510, though his many attributions to Giorgione of paintings that are now lost are treated with suspicion by scholars. Other, less dramatic, treatments before Titian established his composition are by Palma Vecchio and Dosso Dossi. Although Ovid places the discovery in the ninth month of Callisto's pregnancy, in paintings she is generally shown with a rather modest bump for late pregnancy.