Io (mythology)

Io (pronounced: /ˈaɪ.oʊ/; Ancient Greek; Ἰώ , pronounced: /iːɔ̌ː/ ) was, in Greek mythology, a priestess of Hera in Argos,In a fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. a nymph who was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. His wife Hera sent ever-watchful Argus Panoptes, with one hundred eyes, 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 then "return" to mainland Greece.
Io's father is generally given as Inachus,Other fathers, Iasos or Peiren are briefly noted in Bibliotheke 2.5; cf. Bibliotheca 2.1.3 = Catalogue of Women fr. 124 = Acusilaus, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 2 F 26. a river god credited with inaugurating the worship of Hera in the countryside around Argos, thus establishing her as an autochthonous spirit of the ArgolidA genealogy constructed for a "House of Argos" cannot be reconciled with the myths. and thus by her nature the nymph of a spring, a Naiad. However, due to the Inachid genealogy being generally confused, other versions concerning her parentage existed as well. In some accounts, she ms the daughter of the Argive Iasus, who himself was given either as the son of Argus Panoptes and Ismene, the daughter of Asopus,Bibliotheca 2.1.3. or of Triopas and Sosis; Io's mother in the latter case was Leucane.Scholia on Euripides' Orestes, 932 Io's father was called Peiren in the Catalogue of Women,Cat. fr. 124 = Bibliotheca 2.1.3. and this figure might be a son of the elder Argus also called Peiras, Peiranthus or Peirasus in other sources., Pausanias 2.16.1, Hyginus, Fabulae 124. Io may therefore be identical to Callithyia, daughter of Peiranthus, as is suggested by Hesychius of Alexandria.Hesychius of Alexandria s. v. Ὶὼ Καλλιθύεσσα
Another of the myths 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 whispered nighttime advances until the oracles caused her own father to drive her out into the fields of Lerna. There, Zeus covered her with clouds to hide her from the eyes of his jealous wife, Hera, who nonetheless came to investigate. In a vain attempt to hide his crimes, Zeus turned himself into a white cloud and transformed Io into a beautiful white heifer. Hera was not fooled. She demanded the heifer as a present, and Zeus could not refuse her without arousing suspicion.
Hera tethered Io to the olive-tree in the temenos of her cult-site, the Heraion, and placed her in the charge of many-eyed Argus Panoptes to keep her separated from Zeus. Zeus commanded Hermes to kill Argus; Ovid added the detail that he lulled all hundred eyes to sleep, ultimately with the story of Pan and Syrinx. Hera then forced Io to wander the earth without rest, plagued by a gadfly (Οίστρος or oestrus: see etymology of "estrus" ) to sting her into madness. Io eventually crossed the path between the Propontis and the Black Sea, which thus acquired the name Bosporus (meaning ox passage), where she met Prometheus.
Prometheus had been chained on Mt. Caucasus by Zeus for teaching mankind how to make fire and tricking him into accepting the worse part of a sacrifice while the mortals kept the better part (meat); every day, a giant eagle fed on Prometheus' liver. Despite his agony, he comforted Io with the information that she would be restored to human form and become the ancestress of the greatest of all heroes, Heracles (Hercules). Io escaped across the Ionian Sea to Egypt, where she was restored to human form by Zeus. There, she gave birth to Zeus's son Epaphus, and a daughter as well, Keroessa. She later married Egyptian king Telegonus. Their grandson, Danaos, eventually returned to Greece with his fifty daughters (the Danaids), as recalled in Aeschylus' play The Suppliants.
The myth of Io must have been well known to Homer, who often calls Hermes Hermes Argeiphontes, "Hermes Argus-slayer." Walter BurkertBurkert, Homo Necans (1974) 1983:164 note 14, giving bibliography. notes that the story of Io was told in the ancient epic tradition at least four times of which we have traces: in the Danais, in the Phoronis— Phoroneus founded the cult of Hera, according to Hyginus' Fabulae 274 and 143—in a fragment of the Hesiodic Aigimios, as well as in similarly fragmentary Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. A mourning commemoration of Io was observed at the Heraion of Argos into classical times.
The mythic events concerning Io were transplanted, no doubt by colonists from Argos, to various far-flung sites in the Hellenic world.
The ancients connected Io with the Moon,Eustathius of Thessalonica commentary on Dionysius Periegetes, 92; the Byzantine encyclopedia Suda s.v. "Io", Hesychius, s.v. "Io". and in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, where Io encounters Prometheus, she refers to herself as "the horned virgin", both bovine and lunar.
==In popular culture==
In the game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Io is a Persona of the Arcana "The Lovers", and is the first Persona of Yukari Takeba. She is represented as a young woman chained to a throne shaped as a bull's head and has wind-related abilities.
In the 2010 film Clash of the Titans, Io was portrayed by British actress Gemma Arterton. The character was a major deviation from Greek mythology: instead of being Zeus' lover, she was portrayed as a guide to Perseus. Her transformation into a cow was also not mentioned. Instead, she was "cursed" with agelessness for refusing a god's romantic advances.
Despite confirming her return for Wrath of the Titans in September 2010, Arterton did not reprise her role for unknown reasons. Instead, it is revealed that Io has died sometime between the decade after the first movie takes place as Perseus is seen placing stones on her grave.
In the game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2, Io is a female student who goes to the same school as the protagonist.
==Notes==
==External links==
*Theoi.com: Io: naiad nymph of Argolis and Egypt Assembles the essential references in Greek and Latin literature, in translation.
Category:Greek Mythology