Week 4 Story: Ursa Major

Jupiter sees Callisto

(An urban farm in Chicago on Wikipedia)

Jupiter was in charge of a local community garden. Most days, while he was working in the gated off area, a young woman would walk by who caught his eye. She wasn’t like other women he knew; she wore a fitted leather jacket with a large bow and arrow patch on the back, jeans, and combat boots. Her long hair was always tied back with a white ribbon, the only soft looking element about her. He didn’t personally know the woman, but he did know her name: Callisto.

From what Jupiter had heard, Callisto belonged to a sort of… girl gang, headed by the toughest woman in the whole city, Diana. Their group was composed of women who took control of their lives and did what they wanted, when they wanted. But, what Jupiter wanted, was Callisto.

Jupiter rapes Callisto

(Boscombe: The Opera House on geograph.org.uk)

One night, as Jupiter was leaving the garden after working all day, he noticed Callisto walking by. He watched as she turned a corner, and made the decision to follow her. Walking behind her a ways, Jupiter saw Callisto enter into a nightclub that had a particularly harsh reputation. He went in a little after her, determined to speak to her.

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Callisto made her way across the dance floor to the bar. After ordering some water, she leaned against the counter and let the noises around her blur together. As she got her water, she noticed someone standing uncomfortably close to her. She turned around to come face to face with a man she didn’t know.

“Hi,” he yelled so he would be heard over the music.

“Uh, hi,” Callisto responded, stepping to the side to gain more space.

The man didn’t seem to notice her uneasiness. “You’re Callisto, right?” Finally sensing wariness from the woman, he added, “I’m a friend of Diana’s. The name’s Jupiter,” and he held out a hand. Callisto seemed to relax a bit and she shook his hand.

“Jupiter, nice to meet you. I don’t think Diana has ever mentioned you.

“Oh really? We were uh, classmates, in high school.”

“Oh cool...”

As Callisto trailed off, unsure of what to say, Jupiter leaned in closer so she could hear him better.

“Do you wanna go talk somewhere? It’s really loud in here.”

Trusting anyone Diana would call a friend, Callisto agreed and they made their way to an exit. They walked the nearby streets and talked for a while. Callisto thinking she had made a new friend, Jupiter formulating a plan.

After walking around for a while, Jupiter offered to walk Callisto to her apartment. She agreed, enjoying the company, and they made their way there. Once outside of the building, Callisto started saying goodbye, but Jupiter suggested hanging out a bit longer. Hesitantly, she agreed and let him in. Once the apartment door was locked, Jupiter made his move. Callisto fought him, but she couldn’t overcome him.

Afterwards, Jupiter left, leaving Callisto vulnerable and shaking in her living room.

Diana discovers Callisto’s shame

(Patch for The Golden Arrow, designed by me, ft. arc archery arrow)

The next night, Callisto showed up late to the meeting for The Golden Arrows, the all-woman group she was a part of. She slunk in the door, staying close to the back of the room and keeping her eyes down. Toward the center of the room, Diana stood talking with the rest of the group. They all wore the same leather jacket with a bow and arrow patch on the back. After the meeting had officially ended, Diana approached Callisto.

“Hey Callie, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” the boisterous woman joked. Seeing the look in Callisto’s eyes as she got closer, Diana’s pulse spiked. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Callisto turned her face away, but not before Diana could see the tears start falling.

“Callisto, please talk to me. What happened?”

By this point, the other members had noticed and they made their way over to the pair. After a few minutes of silence as the others waited for Callisto to decide if she wanted to tell them, she faced them again and explained what happened. At the end, Diana had her hands clenched into fists so tightly her knuckles were completely white.

An hour and a half later, all of the women walked out of the front of the building, silent and strong with a goal in mind. They piled into different cars and all set off in the same direction.

Callisto turned into a Bear

(Copper brass knuckles on flickr)

Later, five cars pulled up to a small apartment complex. A woman got out of the front car and walked up to the door and pressed the button for the buzzer. Moments later, Jupiter’s voice cracked over the small speaker.

“Jupiter. Who is it?”

“Hey Jupe! It’s Egeria! I never took you up on that movie hangout and I am here to collect.”

There was silence on the other end, and then the door buzzed and popped open. Egeria motioned to the others. Twenty women made their way up to Jupiter’s third floor apartment and knocked on the door. Jupiter answered, a grin on his face that fell as he came face to face with Diana with the other women behind her.

“Hello, Jupiter,” Diana said before pushing into his apartment.

After they were in the apartment and Jupiter was shoved to the floor, Callisto made her way to the front of the group to stand beside Diana. Jupiter started to open his mouth, but was cut off by a knee connecting with his chin.

Fifteen minutes later, twenty women exited the apartment building, most of them wiping of blood and sweat from knuckles, boots, ect.

Callisto becomes a Constellation

(Ursa Major on Wikipedia)

Months later, Callisto walked down the street with Diana. They talked about Callisto’s new work, talking to girls and women at a nearby YWCA about surviving sexual assault. As they talked, Diana said she could see the fire in Callisto’s eyes.

“Not fire,” Callisto explained, “but stars. Sort of my… guiding light.”

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Author's note: This week I wanted to retell the story of Callisto. In the original story, Jupiter takes on the appearance of Diana and rapes Callisto. When Diana finds out, she kicks Callisto out of her hunting troupe. The Juno, Jupiter's wife, sees that Callisto has given birth to Jupiter's son, she beats Callisto and turns her into a bear. Later, Callisto's son is about to kill her, so Jupiter turns them both into constellations. 

I wanted a different ending. I wanted Callisto to be supported by Diana's group and I wanted repercussions for Jupiter. I will clarify, he didn't die in this telling. Just got the crap beat out of him. To change the story to fit the outcome I wanted, I couldn't have it set in the original Greek setting, or at least, I didn't want to. So instead the setting is a major city of some sort. Diana's group is a gang and they all fiercely support each other. Jupiter is crap, I left that part. I also left the different section titles the same (except for the last one) because I wanted that parallel to the original story. 

Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Callisto translated by Tony Kline