Ursa Major

Calisto, daughter of Lycaʹon, was violated by Jupiter, and Juno changed her into a bear. Jupiter placed her among the stars that she might be more under his protection. Homer calls it Arktos the bear, and Hamaxa the waggon. The Romans called it Ursa the bear, and Septemtrioʹnēs the seven ploughing oxen; whence “Septentrionaʹlis” came to signify the north. The common names in Europe for the seven bright stars are “the plough,” “the waggon,” “Charles’s wain,” “the Great Bear,” etc.