92 THE MYTHS OF CREATION: THE GODS
lo was loved by Zeus; she was a priestess of Hera and could not avoid de-
tection by the goddess. Zeus failed to deceive Hera, who in retaliation turned
lo into a white cow,^17 and to guard her new possession, she set Argus over her.
Argus, whose parentage is variously given, had many eyes (the number varies
from four in Aeschylus to one hundred in Ovid) and was called Argus Panoptes
(the "all-seeing"); because his eyes never slept all at once, he could have lo un-
der constant surveillance. Zeus therefore sent Hermes to rescue lo; Hermes lulled
Argus to sleep by telling him stories, and then cut off his head—hence his title
Argeiphontes, or "slayer of Argus." Hera set Argus' eyes in the tail of the pea-
cock, the bird with which she is especially associated. Io still could not escape
Hera's jealousy; Hera sent a gadfly that so maddened her that she wandered
miserably over the whole world until finally she came to Egypt. There by the
Nile, Zeus restored her human form, and she gave birth to a son, Epaphus.^18
In Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus describes Io's sufferings in some detail to il-
lustrate the ultimate wisdom, justice, and mercy of an all-powerful Zeus. In
agony because of the stings of the gadfly and tormented by the ghost of Argus,
Io flees over the earth in mad frenzy. She asks why Zeus has punished her, an
innocent victim of Hera's brutal resentment, and longs for the release of death.
This is how the uncomprehending Io tells Prometheus of her anguish (645-682):f
Again and again in the night, visions would appear to me in my room and en-
tice me with seductive words: "O blessed maiden, why do you remain a virgin
for so long when it is possible for you to achieve the greatest of marriages? For
Zeus is inflamed by the shafts of desire and longs to make love to you. Do not,
my child, reject the bed of Zeus but go out to the deep meadow of Lerna where
the flocks and herds of your father graze, so that the longing of the eye of Zeus
may be requited." I, poor wretch, was troubled every night by such dreams un-
til at last I dared to tell my father about them. He sent numerous messengers to
Delphi and Dodona to find out what he must do or say to appease the gods;
and they returned with difficult and obscure answers, cryptically worded. At
last an unambiguous injunction was delivered to Inachus, clearly ordering him
to evict me from his house and city to wander without a home to the ends of
the earth; if he did not comply, the fiery thunderbolt of Zeus would strike and
annihilate his whole race.
In obedience to this oracle of Apollo, my father, unwilling as was I, expelled
and drove me from my home; indeed the bridle bit of Zeus forcefully compelled
him to do such things. Straightway my body was changed and my mind dis-
torted; with horns, as you can see, and pursued by the sharp stings of a gadfly,
I rushed in convulsive leaps to the clear stream of Cerchnea and the spring of
Lerna. The giant herdsman Argus, savage in his rage, accompanied me, watch-
ing with his countless eyes my every step. A sudden unexpected fate deprived
him of his life; but I, driven mad by the stings of the gadfly, wander from land
to land under the scourge of god.
As the scene continues, Prometheus foretells the subsequent course of Io's
wanderings. Eventually she will find peace in Egypt, where (848-851):