The Bear - Artemis
Ursa Major means Great Bear in Latin. It is a large sprawling constellation which contains the best known asterism (a distinctive group of stars) in all the heavens, commonly called the Big Dipper. The handle of the Dipper is the Great Bear's tail and the Dipper's cup is the Bear's flank.
Ursa Minor means little bear in Latin. It contains another famous asterism called the Little Dipper. Ursa Minor contains the most important navigational star in the northern sky, Polaris, the Pole or North Star. Polaris lies within one degree of the North Celestial Pole.
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are circumpolar. They are thus always above the horizon, never rising or setting, and are visible throughout the year, high or low in the sky.
Callisto was a beautiful nymph from Arcadia, who was a follower of Artemis, the virgin huntress and goddess of the crescent moon. Artemis imposed a vow of chastity upon all of her companions who followed her hunting through the mountains.
Zeus was captivated by Callisto's great beauty. He transformed himself in the likeness of Artemis and seduced the young virgin. By the time she realised her mistake it was too late. She tried to hide her pregnancy, but Artemis realised what had happened when she saw Callisto bathing with her companions. In order to protect Callisto, Zeus transformed her into a bear. Artemis shot her with her arrows, and Callisto died giving birth to a son, Arcas. Callisto was then transformed into the Great Bear constellation.
In a variation of this myth, Zeus saw Callisto in the forest and fell in love with her, after which she gave birth to their son, Arcas. When Zeus' wife, Hera learned that he was cheating on her, she turned Callisto into a bear to roam the forest. After many years, Arcas, went out to hunt in the nearby woods. Callisto, recognising her son, stood on her hind legs to welcome him. Arcas readied his spear to defend himself.
Zeus, saw what was about to happen, and turned Arcas into a small bear. Grabbing both bears by their tails, Zeus dragged them into the safety of the sky, where they are Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. It has been suggested that the long tails of these constellations are the result of Zeus grabbing the bears by their tails and swinging them into the sky.
When Hera discovered that Zeus had given Callisto and Arcas honored places in heaven, she was furious. She visited her friend the ocean god, Oceanus and ask that the two be penned so that they may never wander far. Oceanus agreed and saw to it that the couple would never be permitted to set below the horizon of his sea as other constellations do. The Lesser Bear and the Greater Bear are high in the sky near the Pole Star, never resting, never setting.
The primitive Artemis was an agricultural deity, worshipped mainly in Arcadia. She was symbolised by a she-bear. A more ancient belief was that the Great Bear was really Artemis, and that Callisto was an epithet for Artemis, indicating that the two were separated later, with Callisto becoming a companion of Artemis.
Artemis was the virgin daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo. Artemis and Apollo were both armed with a bow and arrow. Their shafts could protect against monsters and giants, but could also cause sudden death. Just as Apollo was the luminous god of day, she with her torch was a goddess of light by night, and became associated with the goddesses of the moon and the night, such as Selene, the Thracian Hekate, the Thracian Bendis, the Cretan Britomartis, and the moon goddess of Tauris (due to similarity with her epithet Tauropolos).
The domain of Artemis was among the hills and valleys, woods, meadows, rivers and fountains. She was a mighty huntress, who in her leisure time would dance, play and bathe with the nymphs who were her companions.
The lunar character of Artemis is recalled on coins which sometimes represent her with a torch or with the moon and star around her head. Sculptors however, emphasized her rural aspect, portraying her as a young slim girl with her hair drawn back or partly gathered in a knot, wearing a short tunic, and accompanied by either a hind or a dog.
For the ancient Egyptians, the Great Bear was called the "Bull's Thigh" or "Fore Shank." This was associated with Set. Set was also a generic term applied to all circumpolar constellations, as they were thought to typify darkness.
