Daughter of Lycaon

In Greek Mythology, Lycaon was the king of Arcadia. He had 50 sons and 3 daughters. Zeus tried to seduce one of his daughters, Callisto because of her legendary beauty. In retaliation, Lycaon tried to “test” Zeus’ immortality by mixing human meat into his food in order to try to make him mortal and murder him. Zeus, enraged by this act turned Lycaon into a wolf and killed all of his sons using lightning. Due to his frustration at his inability to seduce her (due to the fact that she had taken a vow to remain a virgin), Zeus decided that if he couldn’t have her physically, he would transform her into a constellation so he could enjoy her beauty for eternity.

While she is always portrayed as a stunning woman, surrounded by nature in a very idyllic way, I was more interested in visually portraying the extreme state of mind Callisto may have been in when all of this happened. It’s a fascinating story and I wanted to depict it in a non-glorified, abstract way that looks at the myth in a more personal manner.

Muse: Georgina Koutsaimani