Home > Io (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Io (pronounced "EE oh" though "EYE oh," is acceptable) was the daughter of Inachus, a river god (it should be noted that the early genealogy of the House of Argos is very confusing; depending on the source, Io had different parents).

One day, Zeus noticed the maiden, and took her as one of his many lovers. Their relationship continued until Zeus's long-suffering wife, Hera, almost caught them together. Zeus turned himself into a white cloud - and Io into a beautiful white heifer - to try to aviod detection, but Hera was not fooled. She demanded the heifer as a present.

Hera placed Io in the charge of Argus (the many-eyed monster) to keep her separated from Zeus. Zeus commanded Hermes to kill Argus, which he did by lulling all 100 eyes to sleep. Hera then forced Io to wander the earth without rest, plagued by a gadfly to sting her into madness. Io eventually crossed the path between Propontis and Black Sea, which thus took the name Bosporus (meaning ox passage), where she met Prometheus.

Prometheus had been chained on Mt. Caucasus by Zeus for teaching Man how to make fire and tricking him into accepting the worse part of a sacrifice while the mortals kept the best part (meat); every day, a giant eagle fed on Prometheus's liverThe liver is an organ in vertebrates including humans. It plays a major role in metabolism and has a number of functions in the body including detoxification, glycogen storage and plasma protein synthesis. It also produces bile which is important for dige. Despite his agony, he tried to comfort Io. He told her that she would be restored to human form and become the ancestress of the greatest of all heroes, HeraclesFor the son of Alexander the Great, see Heracles (Macedon). In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera") was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, the grand-daughter of Perseus and the wife of Amphitryon. In Roman mythology he was called Herc. Io escaped across the Ionian SeaThe Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy, including Calabria and Sicily, to the west, by southwestern Albania and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ith to EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797, where she was restored to human form by Zeus. There, she gave birth Zeus's son, EpaphusIn Greek mythology, Epaphus also called Apis is the son of Zeus and Io. Epaphus is mostly known for founding the city of Memphis, Egypt. With his wife, named Memphis, he had one daughter: Libya. Greek mythological people.. She later married Egyptian king TelegonusIn Greek mythology, Telegonus ("born afar") was the youngest son of Circe and Odysseus. When Telegonus grew up, Circe sent him to find Odysseus, who by this time had finally returned to Ithaca from the Trojan War. On his arrival Telegonus began plundering.

The term Io fly is derived from the gadfly Hera sent to torment Io into fleeing to Egypt after Argus was slain.

Io is the subject of one of Antonio Correggio's most famous paintings.