Arcas

Arcas

:"For the butterfly genus, see "Arcas (butterfly).

In Pelasgian mythology, Arcas (Ἀρκάς) is the son of the god Zeus (the god of thunder and the lord over all gods) and Callisto (the goddess of Ursa Major, the Great Bear). Callisto was a deity of the goddess Artemis. Zeus, being a flirtatious and insatiable god, 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 placed upon the burning altar as a sacrifice to the gods. He then said to Zeus "If you think that you are so clever, make your son whole and un-harmed." At this Zeus became enraged. He made Arcas whole and then directed his anger toward Lycaon, turning him into the first werewolf.

After this occurrence, Arcas became the new king of Arcadia, and the country's greatest hunter. One day when Arcas went hunting in the woods, he came across his mother. Seeing her son after so long, she went forth to give him a hug. Not knowing that the bear was his mother, he went to kill her with an arrow. Zeus, taking pity upon the two, decided to avert the tragedy and put them both up in the heavens, and their constellations are now referred to as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the big and little bears (also known as the Big and Little Dipper). When Artemis heard of this, she became so angry that she asked Tethys to keep them in a certain place, so that the constellations would never sink below the horizon and receive water.

ources

* [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/arcas.html Encyclopedia Mythica - Arcas] : "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). "

External links

* [http://ion.le.ac.uk/kallisto/myth1.html Why is It Called Arcas?]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Arcás — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Arcás (Αρκάς) es el nombre por el que se conoce a uno de los autores de cómics más populares de Grecia. Sus tiras cómicas aparecieron por primera vez en los kioscos a principios de los años 80, y desde entonces hasta …   Wikipedia Español

  • Arcas — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Arcas puede referirse a: Arcas, un personaje mitológico. Arcas, un cohete sonda estadounidense. Arcas del Villar, población española en la provincia de Cuenca. Julián Arcas, guitarrista y compositor español. Véase… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Arcas — bezeichnet: eine Gestalt in der griechische Mythologie, siehe Arkas und Bärentreiber eine US amerikanische Höhenforschungsrakete, siehe Arcas (Rakete) eine Gemeinde in Portugal, siehe Arcas (Portugal) Julián Arcas (1832–1882), spanischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • arcaş — ARCÁŞ, arcaşi, s.m. 1. Oştean înarmat cu arc; persoană care trage cu arcul; săgetător. 2. (La sg.; art.) Constulaţie din emisfera australă, compusă din 146 de stele vizibile cu ochiul liber; Săgetătorul. – Arc + suf. aş. Trimis de ana zecheru, 13 …   Dicționar Român

  • Arcas — ARCAS, ădis, Gr. Ἄρκας, αδος, (⇒ Tab. XIX.) des Jupiters und der Themisto, nach einigen, Eustath. ad Dionys. Perieg. v. 414. nach andern des Apollo, Tzetz. ad Lycophr. v. 480. oder des Jupiters und der Callisto, einer Tochter des Lykaons, Königes …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Arcas [1] — ARCAS, ădis, ein Beynamen des Mercurius, welchen er von dem Lande Arkadien hat, in welchem er geboren und erzogen seyn soll. Gyrald. Syntagm. IX. pag. 299 …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Arcas [2] — ARCAS, ădis, einer von Aktäons vielen Hunden, welche ihren Herrn, als er in einen Hirsch verwandelt worden, zerrissen und fraßen. Hyg. Fab. 181 …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • arćaš — àrćāš m <G arćáša> DEFINICIJA pom. ribarska mreža za lov u plitkim vodama, baca se s ramena; rečijak, sačmarica, ričalo …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Arcas — Dans la mythologie grecque, Arcas est le fils de Zeus et de Callisto, et le roi éponyme de la province d Arcadie. Son nom, en lien avec son histoire, semble lié au grec ancien arktos : ours . Callisto ayant offensé Artémis, cette dernière la …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arcas — En la mitología griega, Arcas (en griego Αρκάς) era el hijo de Zeus y la ninfa Calisto. Hera, la esposa de Zeus, castigó a Calisto convirtiéndola en oso. Sin saberlo, Arcas intentó matar a su madre durante una cacería, pues no la reconoció. Zeus… …   Enciclopedia Universal

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”