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

Proper Nouns

Artemis (Ἄρτεμις) deity Q39503
Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) deity Q41484
Zeus (Ζεύς) deity Q34201
Hera (Ἥρα) deity Q38012
Callisto (Καλλιστώ) person Q117089827
Lycaon (Λυκάων) person Q12880304
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