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The
story of Arcas and Calisto from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
The maiden Calisto, was an Arcadian nymph, one of the virgin followers
of the Moon Goddess, Diana.
They avoided men and spent their time hunting in the woods.
One hot day, Calisto was lying in the shade when the God, Jupiter
saw her, was captivated by her extreme beauty and, in disguise,
seduced her.
Being
an inexperienced young woman, she did not discover her mistake until
it was too late.
Not rea1ising anything was amiss, it was some months later when
bathing in a stream, that Diana saw she was pregnant and furiously
dismissed her from the band of nymphs.
Shortly
after this, Calisto gave birth to a son, Arcas.
Jupiter's wife, Juno, became enraged with jealousy and turned Calisto
into a bear.
Arcas
grew up and, one day, whilst out hunting, he encountered Calisto.
She recognised him, but he did not suspect that the bear was his
mother.
He was about to shoot her when Jupiter intervened and snatched them
up in a whirlwind and transformed them into heavenly constellations.
Thus, Calisto became The Great Bear and Arcas became the Little
Bear.
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