Io

Io (Ίώ) was an Argive heroine loved by the god Zeus.

The early genealogy of the House of Argos is very confusing. Depending on the sources, Io had different parents. So before we began her tale, we will look at the possible parentage she had.

According to the Library, Apollodorus mentioned several possible parents for Io. And with each possibility, he also mentioned his sources. Apollodorus said that according to one source - Castor, who wrote the Chronicles - Io was a daughter of the river-god Inachus and Melia. This would make her a sister of Phoroneus and Aegialeus. Most of the other authors have favoured this, eg. Ovid, Diodorus Siculus, etc.

Then according to his sources from Acousilaus and Hesiod (in a poem called Aegimius), Io's father was Peiren. Peiren is most likely to be the Peiras that Apollodorus had mentioned earlier as the son of Argus and Evadne.

The third possibility is that she was a daughter of Iasus and was a descendant of Phoroneus. For this possibility, I suggest you see the Early Kings of Argos in the Houses of Argolis.

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Whoever her father was, Io's adventure was the same.

She was a priestess of Hera in Argolis when Zeus noticed her and fell in love with the maiden. Zeus tried to seduce Io without his wife's knowledge. The god hid himself and Io in a thick cloud.

Hera, always jealous of Zeus' numerous affairs, was instantly suspicious of her husband and quickly used her power to disperse the thick cloud. Zeus quickly changed the poor girl into a white cow.

Zeus lied to Hera that he had never seen the cow until just now. Hera did not believe a word of it, and asked her husband to give the lovely cow to her as present. Zeus had no choice but to turn Io over to his jealous wife.

According to the Aegimius (a poem ascribed to Hesiod), Zeus had brought her to the island of Abantis (Euboea), so he could seduce the maiden. But Hera arrived, so Zeus changed her into a white cow. Thereafter the island of Abantis was renamed to Euboea – the "Island of Fine Cattle", or "Island of Fine Cows".

Hera gave Io to Argus Panoptes to guard the cow. Argus was a great watchman who had a hundred eyes. Zeus could not possibly spirit Io away without Argus noticing. Even when Argus was asleep, some of his eyes could watch Io while the rest of his eyes were closed. Io was taken from her home in Argolis.

Zeus decided to send his son Hermes to kill Argus. Hermes disguised himself as a shepherd. When Argus and Hermes met, Hermes played his reed and told long stories. Hermes told the stories as drowsily and monotonously as possible. The instant all of Argus' closed in sleep, Hermes killed the watchman with his sword. Hera honoured Argus by placing his eyes on the tail of a peacock, her favourite bird.

Even though Argus had died, Io's misery did not end. Still in the form of a white heifer, Hera sent a gadfly that stung her to madness. She wandered through many lands without rest, plagued by the gadfly. The only time she did stop was when she dropped, exhausted, on some unknown land. When she recovered somewhat, she would resume her long journey with the gadfly continuing to torment her.

Later, she came across the Titan named Prometheus. Zeus had bound Prometheus in chains on the peak of Caucasus. Every day a giant Caucasian Eagle would feed on Prometheus' liver as punishment for teaching mankind how to make fire and tricking Zeus into accepting the worst part of a sacrifice while mortals kept the best part, meat.

Prometheus easily saw through Io's present form. Even while Prometheus was suffering in agony, he tried to comfort her. Prometheus told her what her future held for her.

The Titan told her that Zeus would restore her to her normal form when she reached Egypt, and she would give birth to a son. Her descendants would one day rule in Argos, Thebes and Crete. One of her descendants would also be the greatest hero in the world, Heracles. Heracles, son of Zeus, would one-day free Prometheus himself from his bondage.

Io continued her journey, constantly harassed by the gadfly, until she reached the Nile. Io ended her journey when she dropped exhausted at the city of Canobus or Canopus, near Alexandria.

There, Zeus transformed Io back to her human form. Safe from Hera's interference in Egypt, Zeus finally slept with Io. She bore Zeus a son named Epaphus. She married an Egyptian king named Telegonus. Epaphus would later become king of Egypt.

Her great great grandson Danaus would later return to her homeland in Argolis and become king of Argos, establishing a powerful and long dynasty.