Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video we’re discussing Argus,
the monstrous thousand-eyed giant Hera set to guard Io, a woman Zeus transformed into
a cow after forcing himself on her.
Let’s get into it.
Called the Panoptes, meaning All-Seeing-One, Argus was a monstrous giant, a giant herdsman
with eyes all over his body. Accounts describing exactly how many eyes he did have vary, ranging
from as few as four to as many as 1,000.
Argus was blessed with incredible strength, which he used on many occasions to eliminate
threats terrorizing the land. He slayed a fearsome bull that was ravaging the countryside.
He killed a satyr that was robbing people, and there’s even an account of him killing
Echidna who was preying on travelers. Echidna was sometimes called the queen of monsters,
for she birthed many of the monsters in Greek mythology, including the hydra, the chimera,
and the sphinx.
Though many monsters fell to his might, the myth Argus most prominently featured in was
the overpowering and subsequent transformation of Io. She was the daughter of Inachus, a
river god, and her mother’s identity, while more ambiguous, is sometimes said to be one
of the Oceanid nymphs. As was so often the case, in a mythic world where gods and monsters
abounded, beauty was as much a curse as it was a blessing, especially when one caught
the eye of Zeus, whose roaming, lecherous gaze so often brought ruin to those who pleased
it.
Though his advances weren’t welcomed, that, unfortunately, was never much of a deterrent
for Zeus. Io fled, but she was caught and overpowered. By this time, Zeus was an old
pro at committing adultery, so he conjured a ceiling of cloud to obscure what he was
doing from any eyes that might be watching from Olympus, the celestial abode of the gods.
Hera, who was no stranger to Zeus’ extramarital escapades - the sanctity of her marriage already
defiled countless times - became suspicious. She intercepted Zeus, who, out of panic at
the prospect of being caught red-handed, transmogrified Io into a white heifer. But Hera was nobody’s
fool and wasn’t taken in by Zeus’ trickery. She resolved to exact revenge on her unfaithful
husband, so she feigned ignorance of what was happening and asked that the cow be given
to her as a gift. This mired Zeus in a no-win situation - stuck him between a rock and a
hard place. He could either refuse to gift Io, which would prove him to be a lewd and
lustful cheat, or he could do as Hera asked and have the woman who captured his passion
be taken prisoner in cow form. Unsurprisingly, Zeus handed Io over, committing to the course
that benefited him at someone else's expense.
This is where Argus comes in. Hera wanted to prolong Zeus’ punishment, so she enlisted
the monster Argus to guard Io. Argus had eyes all over his body, and his vigilance was unmatched.
Perched on top of a mountain, a vantage point that granted him an unobstructed 360 degree
view, his surveillance was ceaseless, constantly checking every direction simultaneously. Only
two of his eyes slept at a time, so there was never a lapse in his sight. And It didn’t
matter which way he faced, there was always at least one eye keeping watch on Io, whom
he let graze during the day and fettered in a stable at night.
Eventually, Zeus couldn’t bear the sight of Io in such a sorry state, trapped in a
body not her own - not even of the same species - and severed from all those she loved. Zeus
entrusted his son, the god Hermes, with the task of slaying Argus and rescuing Io from
her disconsolate predicament. Hermes equipped himself with many armaments: his winged sandals,
which granted flight, a wand that could charm people, inducing sleep, and a sword for killing.
Hermes' flew forth and alighted in a field adjacent to where Io was held captive. He
posed as a shepherd and tended his flock while playing his reed pipes, the sound of which
was most pleasing to Argus, prompting the giant to invite Hermes to sit with him. After
many tunes were played and many stories told - and a wave of the wand for good measure
- Argus was lulled to sleep, which would prove to only be a nap compared to the final sleep
Hermes had planned for him. With a slash of the sword, Argus’ nodding head was severed
from the body amidst a spray of scarlet. (In another version, Hermes’ plan to steal the
cow is made known to those who would seek to stop him, so he was forced to kill Argus
by hurling a rock at the giant’s head.)The death of her servant enraged Hera. She collected
all of Argus’ eyes setting them in the tail feathers of her favourite bird, the peacock,
and she also sent a giant gadfly to relentlessly pursue Io, who fled; desperate to escape the
creature doggedly pursuing her, she crossed every continent and swam every sea, until,
after an interminable flight all across the world, Io found herself on the banks of the
Nile, where she, at long last, recovered her original form, in which she finally bore the
son, Epaphus, Zeus impregnated her with when he forced himself upon her long ago.
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