Metamorphoses

Jupiter inspects heaven to make sure it hasn’t been damaged by the fire from the sun’s chariot. Then he goes down to Earth to restore it from the burn. He catches sight of a beautiful virgin huntress named Callisto who is the favorite of the virgin goddess Diana. Jupiter spies Callisto taking a nap alone in the forest and decides that the pleasure of being with Callisto will make up for Queen Juno’s anger. Jupiter disguises himself as Diana and approaches Callisto, who rises and expresses her love for Diana. Jupiter kisses Callisto, giving away his true identity. Callisto struggles, but Jupiter overpowers her and rapes her.

Jupiter leaves Callisto. Diana appears with her group of virgins, but Callisto runs away, fearing Diana is Jupiter again. When she spots Diana’s followers, however, she is reassured. However, she is ashamed that she is no longer a virgin and looks down at the ground. Guessing Callisto’s secret, Diana leads the virgins to a stream and tells them to undress and bathe. Callisto tries to hide her belly as she undresses, but the virgins notice her pregnancy and banish her.

Queen Juno hears of Jupiter’s infidelity. Furious, she finds Callisto, who has just given birth to Jupiter’s son, Arcas. The Queen grabs Callisto’s hair and calls her a whore. She transforms Callisto into a hideous bear so that her beauty won’t tempt Jupiter again. She takes away her voice so she can’t plead with Jupiter. Jupiter takes no mercy on Callisto, and she wanders the earth running in fear from other wild beasts.

Arcas grows up to be 15 years old. One day, while hunting, he encounters a bear. He runs from it, unaware that it is his mother. He tries to kill the bear with his spear, but Jupiter blocks the blow. Jupiter then transports mother and son through space and implants them as constellations in the sky. Juno is furious to see her rival celebrated in the sky and goes to visit the ancient gods of the Ocean to implore them to reject these new constellations. They agree. Juno hopes Jupiter will restore Callisto to human form so that she won’t usurp the Queen’s place as Jupiter’s wife.