Arcadia and the Myth of Arcas

Arcadia is located in the central eastern part of the Peloponnese and is one of Greece's prefectures. Arcadia is said to be named after
Arcas who was the son of Zeus and Callisto and grandson of king Lycaon. Hera got mad when she heard about the union of Zeus and Callisto which resulted in the birth of Arcas, so she transformed Callisto into a bear. She was going to transform Arcas into a bear too, but Zeus hid his son in an area of Greece, which would then be callled Arcadia in honor of Arcas. 

It is said that in one of king Lycaon's feasts, Arcas was offered to the gods as a sacrifice, but Zeus saved him and punished king Lycaon by turning him into a Lycanthrope (Werewolf). Arcas then became the new king of Arcadia. It is also said that Arcas was a great hunter. One day when Arcas was hunting, met his mother who was transformed into a bear and tried to kill her as she tried to approach him having remembered her son's face. To avoid the tragedy, Zeus transformed Arcas into a little bear and then transformed both mother and son into the asterisms Big dipper and Little dipper. 

It's worth visiting the modern Arcadia to discover places such as Tripoli which is the capital of Arcadia, Dimitsana a mountainous village, Astros a seaside village and Tegea with it's impressive historical Byzantine churh.