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The story of Callisto and Arcas, like that of the Pleiades, is an aition for a stellar formation, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great and Little Bear. Her name is related to μαῖα (maia), an honorific term for older women related to μήτηρ (mētēr) 'mother', [citation needed] also meaning "midwife" in Greek. [12]
Maia / ˈ m eɪ ə /, designated 20 Tauri (abbreviated 20 Tau), is a star in the constellation of Taurus. It is a blue giant of spectral type B8 III, a chemically peculiar star, and the prototype of the Maia variable class of variable star. Maia is the fourth-brightest star in the Pleiades open star cluster (Messier 45), after Alcyone, Atlas ...
In Classical Greek mythology, Taygete (/ t eɪ ˈ ɪ dʒ ə t iː /; Ancient Greek: Ταϋγέτη, Ancient Greek: [taːyɡétɛː], Modern Greek:) was a nymph, one of the Pleiades according to the Bibliotheca (3.10.1) and a companion of Artemis, in her archaic role as potnia theron, "Mistress of the animals", with its likely roots in prehistory.
There these seven stars formed the star cluster known thereafter as the Pleiades. The Greek poet Hesiod mentions the Pleiades several times in his Works and Days. As the Pleiades are primarily winter stars, they feature prominently in the ancient agricultural calendar. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod:
Maia people, an indigenous tribe of Western Australia; Maia (star), the fourth-brightest star in the Pleiades open-star cluster; F.C. Maia, a Portuguese football club; Short S.21 Maia, a piggyback long-range flying boat combination "-maia" or "maia-", an affix derived from the mythological Maia, used to describe maternal roles in taxonomy
Pleiades seen with the naked eye (upper-left corner). [1]The high visibility of the star cluster Pleiades in the night sky and its position along the ecliptic (which approximates to the Solar System's common planetary plane) has given it importance in many cultures, ancient and modern.
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Arcas was given into a care of one of the Pleiades, Maia. There, Arcas safely lived until one day, during one of the court feasts held by king Lycaon (Arcas' maternal grandfather), Arcas was placed upon the burning altar as a sacrifice to the gods. He then said to Zeus, "If you think that you are so clever, make your son whole and un-harmed".