Megisto (mythology)

Arcadian mythological princess

In Greek mythology, Megisto (Ancient Greek: Μεγιστώ) is, in some accounts, another form for Callisto,^[1] the mother of Arcas by Zeus.^[2] She was also called Themisto, daughter of Inachus.^[3]

Family

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Megisto was of royal blood due to his father being Ceteus, son of King Lycaon of Arcadia.^[2]

Mythology

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Like Callisto, Megisto suffered the same fate like hers in which she was transformed as well into a bear. Her father, Ceteus, is represented in the sky as the Kneeler as he seems to be kneeling on one knee, lamenting her daughter's fate and holding up outstretched hands to heaven, asking for the gods to restore her to him.^[2]

Notes

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^ Forbes Irving 1990, p. 203.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hyginus, De astronomia 2.1.6, and 2.6.2, with Araethus of Tegea as authority
^ Eustathius ad Homer, Iliad p. 300; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Arcadia (Ἀρκαδία); Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions 10.21

References

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Forbes Irving, Paul M. C. (1990). Metamorphosis in Greek Myths. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-814730-9.
Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.