Io

IO was a Naiad nymph of the Argive River Inakhos loved by the god Zeus. When Hera came upon their rendeavous, Zeus transformed the maiden into a white heifer. Hera requested the heifer as a gift, and set the hundred-eyed giant Argos Panoptes to guard her, but Hermes was sent to distract the guardian and slay him. Hera however inflicted the heifer-shaped Io with a gladfly driving her to wander miles across the expanse of Europe and Asia. She eventually reached Egypt where Zeus restored her form with a touch of his hand and she gave birth to their son Epaphos.
Her descendants later returned to Greece from Egypt and Phoenicia, Kadmos founding the royal house of Thebes, and Danaos that of Argos.
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oil on canvas
(c) march 2012

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