Pausanias Analysis

Passage 8.3.7

← 8.3.6 8.4.1 →

Passage 8.3.7: Callisto transformed into the Great Bear (Ursa Major).

Mythic Skeptical

Greek Text

Καλλιστὼ δὲ αὐτὴν ἐποίησεν ἀστέρας καλουμένην ἄρκτον μεγάλην, ἧς καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐν Ὀδυσσέως ἀνάπλῳ παρὰ Καλυψοῦς μνήμην ἔσχε· Πληιάδας τʼ ἐσορῶντα καὶ ὀψὲ δύοντα Βοώτην ἄρκτον θʼ, ἣν καὶ ἅμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν. Hom. Od. 5.272 ἔχοιεν δʼ ἂν καὶ ἄλλως τὸ ὄνομα οἱ ἀστέρες ἐπὶ τιμῇ τῇ Καλλιστοῦς, ἐπεὶ τάφον γε αὐτῆς ἀποφαίνουσιν οἱ Ἀρκάδες.

English Translation

And he turned Callisto herself into the stars called the Great Bear, which Homer mentions in the voyage of Odysseus departing from Calypso: "Gazing upon the Pleiades and late-setting Boötes, And the Bear, which they also call by the name Wagon." (Homer, Odyssey 5.272) Indeed, the stars might otherwise have received their name in honor of Callisto, since the Arcadians point out her tomb.

Proper Nouns

Calypso (Καλυψώ) deity
Boötes (Βοώτης) other
Pleiades (Πληιάδες) other
Bear (Ursa) (Ἄρκτος) other
Callisto (Καλλιστώ) person
Arcadians (Ἀρκάδες) person
Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς) person
Homer (Ὅμηρος) person
← 8.3.6 8.4.1 →