Callisto: The World Through Her Eyes

Written: 1997
© Julie Ruffell 1997
Description: This article was published in Warrior Princess Press.

"Callisto: The World Through Her Eyes"

An army rides through the burning village, striking down any villager who should stand in their way. They are lead by a woman, who wears a wicked smile of amusement. She is a witch, a monster to the villagers. She is feared and hated. No, it's not Xena in her old days, it's Callisto; a woman ten times worse than Xena. What made this abomination?

Xena was created when her younger brother, Lyceus, was killed during a warlord's attack on Amphipolis. Callisto was created when Xena rode through Cirra, and her mother and sister were killed in a blaze of fire. But why did Callisto's rage consume her more than Xena? What makes Callisto so evil? Well, maybe she's not completely evil. No, I'm not crazy! I'm just looking at the world through her eyes. A young girl, of about fifteen or sixteen watches in horror as an army rides straight for her and her village. The young girl runs home to her mother and sister. She has no father. We don't know what happened to him, but since he's gone, all she has in her mother and her sister.

The young Callisto runs, but the horse riders are upon the village before she can make it home. A rider races towards her, and she jumps aside, landing behind some kegs of water. She watches in horror as men from Cirra run forward to fight the warriors, but they are no match for trained warriors and the villagers are killed. Women and children run past Callisto, and lock themselves in their homes. Suddenly, fire breaks out on the other side of the village and it's not a small one. It leaps into the air and spreads from rooftop to rooftop in a heartbeat. Soon, the whole village is burning. Callisto runs home, the fire leaping at her and reaching for her clothes, wanting to consume her as well. She makes it home, to find the whole house on fire. She can hear her mother and sister screaming inside, but Callisto cannot reach them. She screams out to them, but they can't answer. Callisto turns and runs down the path. Her eyes are filled with tears and she stumbles, crashing to the ground. She hears the neigh of a horse and looks up to see the leader; a woman with raven black hair and ice blue eyes. Outlined by the flames, she looks like a demon straight out of Tartarus. "Why?!" Callisto demands. "Why?!" The leader simply turns her horse and rides away.

Callisto was simply a child who had seen too much. Xena wasn't that young when her village was attacked, and it wasn't nearly as monstrous. Consider that when you think of Callisto. Now she was only a child, forced to live on her own. We don't know where she got her training, but Callisto wanted revenge. She wanted the murderer of her family to suffer the same fate. She trained for years, the only things scratching her mind, the images of her burning home and Xena on her horse. She kept thinking these thoughts, and soon they drove her insane. Her mind was lost, taking her with it. When she finally set out to kill Xena, she learned that her enemy had switched sides. She was now a hero, not a monster, in the eyes of others. Callisto couldn't accept that.

Callisto poisoned Xena, to get her out of the way, so Callisto could take her place. She took her army and attacked many villages, letting only one survive from each, to tell the world that she was Xena, the Warrior Princess. Unfortunately for Callisto, Xena learned of her quickly and when the two faced off, it was proven that Callisto was the evil one.

Callisto is merely a victim of her past and rage. I'm not saying that she could herself turn around like Xena did; she's too far gone for that. Yet, if Callisto had never met Xena, her life would have been a normal one of any other village woman. So, it is true when Callisto says that Xena made her.

Now we can understand Callisto's rage and hatred, but there is more to this villainess. Callisto has come to believe that all mortals are evil, and therefore, deserves whatever pain and misery they get. A thought like this, means that Callisto must believe that she did something which caused her mother and sister to be taken away. Maybe she felt that is she had done something like gotten home a little sooner, then maybe they'd still be alive. I think that Callisto blames herself for their deaths. She feels that Xena is the demon and as long as she chases her, she doesn't have to face herself. That's why she doesn't kill Xena even though she's had many chances to do so.

This is also why Callisto can't stand to be trapped in a room, with nothing to do, because then she is forced to relive that day back in Cirra. This is why she wanted to be immortal, so she would never have to die and return to Tartarus again. Unfortunately, Hercules locked her up. Then, when Xena offered her ambrosia, she took it. She not only escaped her prison, but she would so much power that no one but the gods could be able to lock her up again. Yet, in doing that, she realized that even if she didn't kill Xena, the Warrior Princess would die eventually, so she offered that the two of them eat ambrosia, so they can fight for eternity. Xena declined.

Once more, Xena outsmarted her and found a prison that could trap even a god; a river of lava. Now Callisto is trapped yet again and is probably living everyday, thinking of Cirra and Xena. When she escapes again (and we know she will) she will be even angrier than before.

I have a better understanding of Callisto than I did before. I feel that Callisto is evil because she blames not only Xena, but herself, for the deaths of her mother and sister. This is what makes her as insane as she is. I can't help but feel sorry for Callisto. I hope that one day she will find her peace.