Io princess of Argos, loved by Zeus and changed into a white heifer to hide her from Hera, was guarded by Argus of the hundred eyes until Hermes slew him; driven mad by Juno's gadfly she wandered the world to the Nile, where Zeus restored her form and she bore Epaphus — ancestress of kings in Egypt.1
The heifer
Jove saw Io returning from her father's stream and pursued her; when Juno parted the cloud that hid their union, he turned the girl into a milk-white heifer. Hera asked the cow as a gift and set Argus Panoptes to watch — eyes that never all slept at once. Io fed on bitter herbs, slept on bare ground, and bellowed where she once would speak.2
Inachus⚖
By the banks of Inachus the heifer saw her horns in the water and fled; her father and the Naiads did not know her until she traced IO in the dust with her hoof. Ovid makes her plainly the river-god's daughter; Apollodorus reports that Castor and the tragedians say Inachus, while his own account names Iasus son of Argus — and Hesiod, he adds, made her child of Piren.3
Argus and the gadfly
Mercury lulled Argus with story and pipe, then cut off his head; Juno set the hundred eyes on her peacock's tail. She sent a Fury's stings and a gadfly to torment Io, who wandered through the world until she came at last to the Nile. There Jove swore on Styx that she would trouble Hera no more, and Io stood again a woman — fair-skinned, but human.4
Epaphus
In Egypt the linen-wearing people worshiped Io as a goddess, believing Jove's seed had prevailed; she bore Epaphus, who would dwell in temples beside his mother in that land. Hyginus names her parents Inachus and Argia — another thread in the Argive genealogy of the wandering cow.5
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How the centuries saw it
Jupiter and Io
Correggio, c. 1530
Correggio's Vienna canvas — Zeus as a dark cloud embracing Io, the passion that begins her gadfly wander.
Mercury and Argus
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1636–1638
Rubens' Prado scene — Hermes lulling hundred-eyed Argus so Io the heifer may escape Hera's watch.
Mercury and Argus
Diego Velázquez, c. 1659
Velázquez's Prado fable — Argus already asleep as Mercury reaches for the sword, Io's prison about to open.
Io watched by Argus (Pompeii fresco)
Unknown (Roman wall painter), 1st century AD
Pompeian fresco — Io as white heifer under Argus' gaze, the wander still ahead across continents to Egypt.
The Myth of Io
Bartolomeo di Giovanni, c. 1490
Cassone panel cycling Io's story — transformation, Argus, and the long road that ends beside the Nile.