^Zeus and Io in Greek Mythologi^
In Greek mythology, Io was a beautiful woman who caught the eye of the passionate (and conspicuously promiscuous) Olympian god Zeus. Io was commonly thought to be a daughter of the river god Inachus and Melia. In addition, she belonged to a royal family and was also a priestess of Hera at Argos. The story how the princess and priestess Io came to be one of Zeus's many mistresses is the stuff of legend, so read on to learn more about this myth.According to Ovid, Zeus was smitten with Io, so the ruler of the gods devised a way to consummate his relationship with the virgin princess. He caused a cloud to form on a sunny day, and used this cloud to conceal his lovemaking. However, Zeus's vigilant wife Hera noticed the strange dark cloud marring the landscape from her home on Olympus, and immediately her suspicions were aroused. She darted down to earth to investigate. Zeus, in the meantime, had transformed his newest beloved into a stunning white heifer in order to protect his mistress from Hera's notorious wrath.
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| Io "princess of Argos" |
Io wandered far from her home, trying to escape from the gadfly. Finally, she reached Egypt, and in this country she was at last restored to her original form. As a beautiful young woman once again, Io gave birth to a son named Epaphus, her child by Zeus. She was worshipped in Egypt, and identified with the Egyptian goddess Isis.
source : http://www.loggia.com/myth/io.html
Story of Io
Princess of Argos. Zeus fell in love with Io and seduced her. To try to keepHera from noticing he covered the world with a thick blanket of clouds. This backfired, arousing Hera's suspicions. She came down from Mount Olympus and began dispersing the clouds. Zeus did some quick thinking and changed Io's form from being a lovely maiden. So as the clouds dispersed Hera found Zeus standing next to a white heifer. He then swore that he had never seen the cow before, it had just sprang right out of the earth. Seeing right through this Hera complemented the cow and asked to have it as a present. As turning such a reasonable request down would have given the whole thing away, Zeus presented her with the cow.
She sent the cow away and arranged Argus Panoptesto watch over it. Since Argus had a hundred eyes and could have some of them sleep while others were awake he made a fine watchman. Desperate, Zeus sent Hermes to fetch Io. Disguised as a Shepard, Hermes had to employ all his skill as a musician and story teller to gain Argus confidence and lull him to sleep. Once asleep Hermes killed Argus. As a memorial, Hera took his eyes and set them into the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock.While Io was now free Hera sent the mother of all gad-flys to sting the still bovine Io. The ghost of Argus pursued her as well. This pushed her near madness, trying to escape she wandered the world. During her wanders she came across Prometheus while chained. He gave her hope. He predicted that she would have to wander for many years. But, she would eventually be changed back into human form and would bear a child. He predicted that a descendent of this child would be a great hero and set him free.
His predictions came true. During her wanderings many geographical features were named after her including the Ionian Sea, and the Bosphorus (which means ford of the cow). She eventually reached the Nile where Zeus did restore her to human form. She bore Epaphus and eleven generations later her descendant Heracles would set Prometheus free.
Europa story Version \^o^/
Taurus : Star Tale
 Taurus is a distinctive constellation, with star-tipped horns and a head defined by a V-shaped group of stars. Two Greek bull-myths were associated with Taurus. Usually it was said to represent Zeus in the disguise he adopted for another of his extramarital affairs, this time as the bull that carried away Europa, daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia.
Europa liked to play on the beach with the other girls of Tyre. Zeus instructed his son Hermes to drive the king’s cattle from their pastures on the mountain slopes towards the shore where the girls were playing. Adopting the shape of a bull, Zeus surreptitiously mingled with the lowing herd, awaiting his chance to abduct Europa. There was no mistaking who was the most handsome bull. His hide was white as fresh snow and his horns shone like polished metal. Europa was entranced by this beautiful yet placid creature. She adorned his horns with flowers and stroked his flanks, admiring the muscles on his neck and the folds of skin on his flanks. The bull kissed her hands, while inwardly Zeus could hardly contain himself in anticipation of the final conquest. The bull lay on the golden sands and Europa ventured to sit on his back. At first, she feared nothing when the bull rose and began to paddle in the surf. But she became alarmed when it began to swim strongly out to sea. Europa looked around in dismay at the receding shoreline and clung tightly to the bull’s horns as waves washed over the bull’s back. Craftily, Zeus the bull dipped more deeply into the water to make her hold him more tightly still.
By now, Europa had realized that this was no ordinary bull. Eventually, the bull waded ashore at Crete, where Zeus revealed his true identity and seduced Europa. He gave her presents that included a dog that later became the constellation Canis Major. The offspring of Zeus and Europa included Minos, king of Crete, who established the famous palace at Knossos where bull games were held. An alternative story says that Taurus may represent Io, another illicit love of Zeus, whom the god turned into a heifer to disguise her from his wife Hera. But Hera was suspicious and set the hundred-eyed watchman Argus to guard the heifer. Hera, furious at this, sent a gadfly to chase the heifer, who threw herself into the sea and swam away. | |||||||||
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