Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Callisto explained
Juno, jealous of Callisto for captivating Jupiter, transforms her into a bear.
What happens
Juno, jealous of Callisto for captivating Jupiter, transforms her into a bear. Callisto retains her human consciousness and suffers greatly, even nearly being killed by her own son Arcas. Jupiter intervenes, snatching both and placing them in the heavens as the Great and Little Bear constellations. Juno, enraged, persuades the ocean powers to forbid these constellations from ever setting beneath the ocean.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional peak of Tristram’s brief reunion with…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Jealousy and Revenge
Juno's jealousy of Callisto leads to a cruel transformation and a vengeful attempt to deny her honor in the heavens.
- Mortality and Immortality
Callisto's mortal form is lost to a bear's body, but she is ultimately granted immortality as a constellation.
Characters to notice
- Callisto
A maiden loved by Jupiter, transformed into a bear by Juno's jealousy, later placed among the stars as the Great Bear.
- Juno
Queen of the gods, who in jealousy transforms Callisto into a bear and later protests her placement in the heavens.
- Jupiter
Husband of Juno, who loved Callisto and later snatches her and her son Arcas to place them in the sky as constellations.
- Arcas
Son of Callisto and Jupiter, nearly kills his mother in bear form, then is placed in the heavens as the Little Bear.
Key passages
“I will take away,' said she, 'that beauty with which you have captivated my husband.'”
Juno declares she will destroy the beauty that attracted Jupiter.
Juno's motive for transforming Callisto.
“Down fell Callisto on her hands and knees; she tried to stretch out her arms in supplication—they were already beginning to be covered with black hair.”
Callisto falls to the ground as her arms become hairy and bear-like.
The physical transformation of Callisto into a bear.
“Jupiter, beholding, arrested the crime, and snatching away both of them, placed them in the heavens as the Great and Little Bear.”
Jupiter stops the attack and lifts both Callisto and Arcas into the sky as constellations.
Jupiter's intervention and the creation of the constellations.
“The powers of the ocean assented, and consequently the two constellations of the Great and Little Bear move round and round in heaven, but never sink, as the other stars do, beneath the ocean.”
The ocean gods agree to Juno's request, so these constellations never set below the horizon.
Explanation of why the Bears never set.
