=== 育ての親として ===
マイアはまた、カリストとゼウスとの間の子である幼いアルカスを育てた。ゼウスの妻ヘラは、嫉妬に狂ってカリストを熊に変身させた<ref>Apollodorus, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.8.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=:chapter=&highlight=Maia 3.8.2]</ref>。アルカスは、マイアが生まれたアルカディアの略称である<ref name=":0" />。
Maia also raised the infant [[Arcas]], the child of [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]] with Zeus. Wronged by the love affair, Zeus' wife [[Hera]] in a jealous rage had transformed Callisto into a bear. Arcas is the [[eponym]] of [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]], where Maia was born.<ref name=":0" /> 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|date=December 2010}} also meaning "[[midwife]]" in Greek.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nutton|first=Vivian|title=Ancient Medicine|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=9780415086110|location=London|pages=101}}</ref>