Editing Callisto (mythology) (section)

== Origin of the myth ==
[[File:François Boucher - La Nymphe Callisto, séduite par Jupiter sous les traits de Diane (1759).jpg|thumb|350px|In ''[[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and Callisto'' by [[François Boucher]], [[Zeus]]/[[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] takes the form of [[Artemis]]/[[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] ([[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]], [[Kansas City]])]]

The name ''Kalliste'' ({{lang|grc|Καλλίστη}}), "most beautiful", may be recognized as an [[epithet]] of the goddess herself, though none of the inscriptions at Athens that record priests of ''Artemis Kalliste'' ({{lang|grc|Ἄρτεμις Καλλίστη}}), date before the third century BCE.<ref>Daniel J. Geagan. "The Athenian Constitution After Sulla" (''Hesperia Supplements'' '''12''' 1967:72, 95).</ref> Artemis Kalliste was worshiped in Athens in a shrine which lay outside the Dipylon gate, by the side of the road to the [[Platonic Academy|Academy]].<ref>''Klio: Beiträge Zur Alten Geschichte'' (Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften Zu Berlin Institut für Griechisch-Römische Altertumskunde) 1907.</ref> W. S. Ferguson suggested<ref>In ''Klio'' '''7''' (1907:213f).</ref> that Artemis Soteira and Artemis Kalliste were joined in a common cult administered by a single priest. The bearlike character of Artemis herself was a feature of the [[Brauronia]]. It has been suggested that the myths of Artemis' nymphs breaking their vows were originally about Artemis herself, before her characterization shifted to that of a sworn virgin who fiercely defends her chastity.<ref>{{cite book | author = Merriam-Webster, Inc. | title = Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature | date = 1995 | publisher = Merriam-Webster | isbn = 9780877790426 | page =[https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&pg=PA74 74]}}</ref>

[[File:Diana y Calisto, por Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|''Jupiter seduces Callisto'', [[Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre]], ca. 1745-1749]]

The myth in ''[[Catasterismi]]'' may be derived from the fact that a set of constellations appear close together in the sky, in and near the [[Zodiac]] sign of [[Libra (astrology)|Libra]], namely Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, [[Boötes]], and [[Virgo (constellation)|Virgo]]. The [[Boötes|constellation Boötes]], was explicitly identified in the Hesiodic ''Astronomia'' ({{lang|grc|Ἀστρονομία}})<ref>Hesiod, ''Astronomia'', fragment 3, preserved as a quote in a commentary on [[Aratus]].</ref> as Arcas, the "Bear-warden" (''Arktophylax''; {{lang|grc|Ἀρκτοφύλαξ}}):<ref>Thus Hesiod is quoted, though Boötes, {{lang|grc|Βοώτης}}, from his very name, is a ''cow'' ({{lang|grc|βοως}}) herdsman.</ref> He is Arkas the son of Kallisto and Zeus, and he lived in the country about Lykaion. After Zeus had seduced Kallisto, Lykaon, pretending not to know of the matter, entertained Zeus, as Hesiod says, and set before him on the table the babe [Arkas] which he had cut up.<ref>The episode is a doublet of the serving up of [[Pelops]].</ref>

The stars of Ursa Major were all circumpolar in Athens of 400 BCE, and all but the stars in the Great Bear's left foot were circumpolar in Ovid's Rome, in the first century CE. Now, however, due to the [[precession of the equinoxes]], the feet of the Great Bear constellation do sink below the horizon from Rome and especially from Athens; however, Ursa Minor (Arcas) does remain completely above the horizon, even from latitudes as far south as Honolulu and Hong Kong.

According to Julien d'Huy, who used phylogenetic and statistical tools, the story could be a recent transformation of a Palaeolithic myth.<ref>d'Huy Julien, Un ours dans les étoiles: recherche phylogénétique Sur un mythe préhistorique. Préhistoire du sud-ouest, 20 (1), 2012: 91-106 [https://www.academia.edu/3226058/Un_ours_dans_les_etoiles_recherche_phylogenetique_sur_un_mythe_prehistorique._-_Prehistoire_du_sud-ouest_20_1_2012_91-106]; A Cosmic Hunt in the Berber sky : a phylogenetic reconstruction of Palaeolithic mythology. Les Cahiers de l'AARS, 15, 2013: 93-106 [https://www.academia.edu/3045718/A_Cosmic_Hunt_in_the_Berber_sky_a_phylogenetic_reconstruction_of_Palaeolithic_mythology._-_Les_Cahiers_de_lAARS_15_2013_93-106].</ref>