Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.3.6

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Passage 8.3.6: Callisto transformed into a bear; Artemis kills her; Hermes saves her unborn child.

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ γένει παντὶ τῷ ἄρσενι θυγάτηρ Λυκάονι ἐγένετο Καλλιστώ. ταύτῃ τῇ Καλλιστοῖ---λέγω δὲ τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων---συνεγένετο ἐρασθεὶς Ζεύς· Ἥρα δὲ ὡς ἐφώρασεν, ἐποίησεν ἄρκτον τὴν Καλλιστώ, Ἄρτεμις δὲ ἐς χάριν τῆς Ἥρας κατετόξευσεν αὐτήν. καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς Ἑρμῆν πέμπει σῶσαι τὸν παῖδά οἱ προστάξας, ὃν ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ εἶχεν ἡ Καλλιστώ·

English Translation

Within the entirety of Lykaon's male offspring, there was born to him a daughter named Kallisto. To this Kallisto—as I am repeating the story that the Greeks tell—Zeus became passionately attracted and lay with her. When Hera perceived this, she transformed Kallisto into a bear; Artemis, wishing to please Hera, shot her down with arrows. Zeus dispatched Hermes with orders to save the child whom Kallisto was carrying in her womb.

Proper Nouns

Zeus (Ζεύς) deity
Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity
Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) deity
Hera (Ἥρα) deity
Callisto (Καλλιστώ) person
Lycaon (Λυκάων) person
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