For the
butterfly genus, see Arcas (butterfly). In
Pelasgian mythology, Arcas is the son of the god
Zeus (the god of thunder and the lord over all gods) and
Callisto (The goddess of the Great Bear, also known as
Ursa Major).Callisto was a deity of the goddess
Artemis. Zeus, being the flirtatious and insatiable god that he is, decided that he wanted her. As she would not be with anyone but Artemis, Zeus cunningly disguised himself as the goddess and seduced her. The child resulting from their union was called Arcas.
Hera (Zeus' wife), became jealous, and in anger, transformed Callisto into a bear. She would have done the same or worse to her son, had Zeus not hid Arcas in an area of Greece that would come to be called
Arcadia, in his honor. There Arcas safely lived until one day, during one of the court feasts held by King
Lycaon, Arcas was cut by him into pieces as a sacrifice to the gods.
See more at Wikipedia.org...
[Greek] The son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto, who was turned into a bear by Hera out of envy. When Arcas during a hunt attempted to kill the bear, Zeus intervened and put them both in the sky as constellations (Ursa Major and Minor, Great Bear and Little Bear).
odin. bowman
odin. archer