Apulian Red-Figure Chous (Shape 3)

The story of Kallisto and her son Arkas decorates this small _chous_ (wine jug). On the front of the jug, Kallisto sits on a rock covered with an animal skin. Willowy trees surround her, creating a woodland setting. According to myth, Kallisto swore an oath of virginity and spent her time in the Arcadian Mountains of Greece as a favorite companion of Artemis, goddess of the hunt and childbirth. The king of the Greek gods, Zeus, soon took notice of Kallisto (her name means “most beautiful”) and deceived her into having sex with him. She attempted to hide her pregnancy, but was eventually discovered. Artemis, angered at what she perceived as Kallisto's betrayal (or, according to another version, Zeus's wife Hera, enraged at her unfaithful husband), changed her into a bear. On this _chous_, Kallisto already has the animal's pointed ears, hairy arms, and paws. She wears hunting boots, and her hunting spears are propped against the rock at the left.

A male hunter is shown to the left of Kallisto, perhaps drawing back in surprise. On the right, Hermes appears to lift Kallisto's child Arkas from the ground. The messenger god wears his traditional costume of a traveling hat and cloak. His special wand, the _kerykeion_, rests against a stone marker behind him. Hermes is going to transport the soon-to-be-orphaned baby to his own mother, Maia, who will raise Arkas on Mount Kyllene in Arcadia.


In one version of the myth, Arkas later joins his mother Kallisto among the stars as the constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Great Bear and Little Bear), which encompass the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.