Cassiopea
Cassiopea, queen of Ethiopia, claimed to be more attractive than many of the
immortals, and unquestionably more so than all the Nereids. Challenging them to a beauty
contest, she afterward claimed to be the winner. The nymphs demanded satisfaction from
Poseidon, and the god responded by unleashing a terrible flood against Ethiopia and, then,
a sea monster that devastated the country. An oracle declared that the only way to placate
the terrifying creature was to sacrifice the princess Andromeda, and the people forced her
father Cepheus to chain the girl to a rock. It was there, on the seashore, that Perseus
saw her on his way back from his expedition against the Gorgons and fell in love with her
at once. He told Cepheus that he would free his daughter if he gave her to him in
marriage. The hero killed the monster and wedded Andromeda, but then had to fight the
forces of Phineus, the girl's uncle and betrothed, who demanded that she keep her word.
Perseus got the better of his adversaries by holding up the head of the Medusa and turning
them to stone.
Arachne
Arachne was neither a nymph nor a queen, but an ordinary mortal girl who had earned
great fame for her skill in the weaving of wool, an art that she must have learned
directly from Athena. But Arachne claimed otherwise, and even said that she could teach a
thing or two to the goddess. So Athena appeared at her loom in the guise of an old woman
and, smiling, advised her to be more prudent so as not to anger the goddess. The girl
replied with harsh words and challenged Athena, wherever she might be, to compete with her
in the use of the spindle and needle. The goddess revealed herself and the contest began.
Athena chose to represent the twelve gods of Olympus in all their glory and then, as a
warning to the girl, added examples of the punishment of human pride in the four corners
of the fabric. Arachne, working with speed, wove a picture of the loves of the gods,
depicting those unions which were not to their credit: Europa deceived by Zeus in the form
of a bull, Leda lying beneath the wings of the swan, and Poseidon mounting his sister
Demeter in the guise of a stallion. Her work was so perfect that Athena, in rage, tore it
to pieces and struck her rival with the shuttle. In humiliation and desperation, Arachne
hung herself, but the goddess changed her into a spider so that she could go on living and
weaving her thread.
Callisto
Callisto, or the "most beautiful", was a nymph of the Arcadian woods who had
chosen to live far from men, among the band of companions of Artemis, whose
favorite she was. Zeus saw her and fell in love, but in order to unite with her was
obliged to resort to an unusual stratagem, that of assuming the appearance of the goddess
of the chase herself. Callisto's transgression was discovered shortly afterward, when she
undressed to bathe in a spring. Her now obvious pregnancy offended Artemis, who expelled
her from the band, withdrawing her protection and leaving her exposed to the vengeance of
Hera, who was patiently waiting for the moment to strike. When Callisto bore Zeus a son,
called Arcas, Hera made her move: first she changed Callisto into a shaggy bear and then,
not content with that, caused her to be hunted by Artemis, who killed her with her arrows.
However, some say that it was Arcas, inspired by Hera, who killed his mother fifteen years
later, when she was still wandering desperately in the form of an animal. Zeus set
Callisto among the stars by making the constellation of the Great Bear appear in the sky.
