Ovid’s Tales of Warning: Callisto and Europa
Roman Epic functioned in antiquity not just as a source of entertainment and cultural identity, but as a means of teaching what it means to be a Roman citizen and how to survive in a brutal and violent world (remember, the Romans invented some of the most terrifying and gruesome execution methods ever devised).
Two women whose stories hold similar warnings are those of Callisto and Europa, both of whom are woman who caught the attention of Jupiter and have their stories in Book II of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Callisto (II. 401–530)
Following the destruction wrought on the world by Phaethon (link at the end for his story), Jupiter (Zeus) decides to actually do his job of running the world (a rare occurrence) and conducts an inspection of the walls that hold up the sky (because apparently Atlas does not hold up the sky alone).
And once he has finished that task, he turns his attention to the nearby mortals, in particular the land of Arcadia, where he was raised. It is there that he sees Callisto, a sworn virgin who shuns men in favour of hunting and is a favourite of Diana (Artemis).
When it is midday, thinking she is alone and in a safe place, Callisto lays down to rest, using her quiver of arrows as a pillow, and Jupiter thinks to himself that Juno (Hera)…
