The Eyes of Argus
 |
Argus has been called "The All-seeing", because he had 100 eyes. Io was a priestess of the Greek goddess Hera, who was the jealous wife of Zeus, the
king of the gods. Zeus was indeed very unfaithful. When Zeus fell in love with Io, he transformed himself into the shape of a dark cloud to hide himself
from his jealous wife. However, Hera looking on earth, noticed the small cloud and suspected that the cloud was one of the Zeus' tricks. She approached
to check the true nature of the cloud. As soon as Hera arrived, Zeus immediately transformed Io into a white cow to avoid his wifeÕs wrath. But Hera
guessed the intrigue and asked Zeus to give her the cow as a gift. Zeus could not refuse such a little gift without giving himself away. Thus, Hera tied
the poor cow and sent her faithful servant, Argus, to watch over Io. Argus has been called "The All-seeing", because he had 100 eyes and only a few
were ever closed at any time. To free Io, Zeus sent his son Hermes, who came disguised as a shepherd. He sat beside Argus, and told him so many tales
that all of Argus' eyes fell asleep. Then Hermes beheaded him with a hooked sword and untied Io who ran home free. When Hera discovered what had
occurred, she was so furious that she sent a vicious gadfly to sting the cow forever. Moreover, to honor the memory of her faithful servant, Hera put the
hundred eyes of Argus on the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock. The hundred eyes could not see any more but they beautifully decorate the tail of the peacock.
|  |
