In Greek mythology, Io (pronounced /ˈaɪ.oʊ/ EYE-oh or /ˈiː.oʊ/, in Ancient Greek Ἰώ [iːɔ́ː]) was a priestess of Hera in Argos who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. Her mistress Hera set ever-watchful Argus Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him. Heifer Io was loosed to roam the world, stung by a maddening gadfly sent by Hera, and wandered to Egypt, thus placing her de...
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In Greek mythology, Io (pronounced /ˈaɪ.oʊ/ EYE-oh or /ˈiː.oʊ/, in Ancient Greek Ἰώ [iːɔ́ː]) was a priestess of Hera in Argos who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. Her mistress Hera set ever-watchful Argus Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him. Heifer Io was loosed to roam the world, stung by a maddening gadfly sent by Hera, and wandered to Egypt, thus placing her descendant Belus in Egypt; his sons Cadmus and Danaus would thus "return" to mainland Greece.
Io's father is generally given as Inachus, an upper god credited with inaugurating the worship of Hera in the county of Argos, thus establishing her as an autochthonous spirit of the Argolid and as by her nature a nymph of a spring, a naiad.
The myth is told most anecdotally by Ovid, in Metamorphoses. According to Ovid, one day, Zeus noticed the maiden and lusted after her. As Io tells her own story in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, she rejected his...
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