Comments (Meaning / History Only)
The story of Io, written during the period between the Aegean Late Bronze Age in Greece (1750-1100 BCE), is one of the oldest surviving tales of Greek mythology, predating the famous works of Homer, who would often reference Io.
The ancients connected Io with the moon.
Ιω, transliteration Iô, means "moon" (ιω (iô) in Argive dialect), from which the name for one of the moons of Jupiter (also known as Jupiter 1) was inspired.
Io, a naiad nymph, is the daughter of Inachus (Latin) (Greek Ínakhos), the river god of Argos, and Melia, the Oceanid nymph. Inachus was a powerful water god named by some as the first king of Argos, and so, the same people gave Io the title of princess of Argos. Ancient Greek writers, especially, Aeschylus, trace Io as the foremost inspiration for the name of the Ionian Sea. The name Ionian comes from the Greek word Ionion (Ἰόνιον). In ancient Greek the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it.
Io became the muse for Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) in "Metamorphoses", a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE, that in simultaneously drawing on and revolutionizing Graeco-Roman traditions about the origins of the mourning voice, conveys the myth of a beautiful princess Io, seduced by the god Jove (the Roman name for Zeus), the god of sky and thunder, in the form of a cloud. The British anglicized Jove to Jupiter.
Io "the wanderer" is generally explained as a moon-goddess wandering in the starry heavens, symbolized by Argus of the hundred eyes. Her heifer’s horns are said to represent the shape of the crescent moon, as well as connecting her namesake to the cycle of the natural world.
Io is described as a heroine because she represents transformation, suffering, loss, and the fortitude and triumph in overcoming.
5
The ancients connected Io with the moon.
Ιω, transliteration Iô, means "moon" (ιω (iô) in Argive dialect), from which the name for one of the moons of Jupiter (also known as Jupiter 1) was inspired.
Io, a naiad nymph, is the daughter of Inachus (Latin) (Greek Ínakhos), the river god of Argos, and Melia, the Oceanid nymph. Inachus was a powerful water god named by some as the first king of Argos, and so, the same people gave Io the title of princess of Argos. Ancient Greek writers, especially, Aeschylus, trace Io as the foremost inspiration for the name of the Ionian Sea. The name Ionian comes from the Greek word Ionion (Ἰόνιον). In ancient Greek the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it.
Io became the muse for Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) in "Metamorphoses", a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE, that in simultaneously drawing on and revolutionizing Graeco-Roman traditions about the origins of the mourning voice, conveys the myth of a beautiful princess Io, seduced by the god Jove (the Roman name for Zeus), the god of sky and thunder, in the form of a cloud. The British anglicized Jove to Jupiter.
Io "the wanderer" is generally explained as a moon-goddess wandering in the starry heavens, symbolized by Argus of the hundred eyes. Her heifer’s horns are said to represent the shape of the crescent moon, as well as connecting her namesake to the cycle of the natural world.
Io is described as a heroine because she represents transformation, suffering, loss, and the fortitude and triumph in overcoming.
5
This came from the story in which Zeus fell in love with a girl named Io. He turned her into a cow so that Hera wouldn’t figure out their relationship.
1
1
According to theoi.com, Io means "the moon", from the Argive dialect (iô).
0
0
Yes, Zeus did change Io into a cow, and Hera sent a fly to follow her all over the world, but I believe she was eventually turned back into a human, and Hercules (Herakles in Greek) descended from her about 11 generations later.
0
0
Io (Ιώ), pronounced EE-Oh, was a mythological figure. She was a priestess of Era (Hera in English) in Argos.
Zeus seduced the young woman and afterward turned her into a young virgin cow (heifer), to help her escape Hera's rage of jealousy. Unfortunately Hera did found her and captured her. She set a guard for Io, a very frightful Giant, a monster called Argos (were the area got it's name from).
Argos had 100 eyes all over his body and was a sleepless guard because when half his eyes were closing for sleep the other half stayed open. He was the one that slayed another mythological monster, Echidna.
Hermes, after Zeus's order, dressed up as a shepherd and by playing his music instrument lira he made Argos fall completely asleep and killed him, setting Io free. Hera however send Io a gadfly to sting her all over the world until she jumped in the sea. The Ionian sea was named after her.
Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter.
Antonio da Correggio's 1530 painting "Jupiter and Io" represents the love affair.
Io (Ηώ or Εώ, or Αυγή in modern Greek) is another mythological figure, she was the goddess Dawn in English or Aurora in Latin. She was the beautiful daughter of Titans and her job was to open the gates of the sky for God Sun (Helios / Ήλιος, and not Apollo as many say) to come out with his chariot. She was wearing a dress the colour of saffron or krokus, and had rosy finger. She was spraying morning dew on earth.
4
Zeus seduced the young woman and afterward turned her into a young virgin cow (heifer), to help her escape Hera's rage of jealousy. Unfortunately Hera did found her and captured her. She set a guard for Io, a very frightful Giant, a monster called Argos (were the area got it's name from).
Argos had 100 eyes all over his body and was a sleepless guard because when half his eyes were closing for sleep the other half stayed open. He was the one that slayed another mythological monster, Echidna.
Hermes, after Zeus's order, dressed up as a shepherd and by playing his music instrument lira he made Argos fall completely asleep and killed him, setting Io free. Hera however send Io a gadfly to sting her all over the world until she jumped in the sea. The Ionian sea was named after her.
Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter.
Antonio da Correggio's 1530 painting "Jupiter and Io" represents the love affair.
Io (Ηώ or Εώ, or Αυγή in modern Greek) is another mythological figure, she was the goddess Dawn in English or Aurora in Latin. She was the beautiful daughter of Titans and her job was to open the gates of the sky for God Sun (Helios / Ήλιος, and not Apollo as many say) to come out with his chariot. She was wearing a dress the colour of saffron or krokus, and had rosy finger. She was spraying morning dew on earth.
4
I remember reading that Hera became jealous of Io and turned her into a cow, but this could be incorrect.
1
1
After Zeus changed Io into a heifer, Hera saw her and sent a gadfly to chase her out of Greece. She fled across the Mediterranean to Egypt, where she arrived on the sand from the ocean. The Egyptians thought she was divine, so they worshipped her. After a while, Hera forgave her and turned her back into a girl, and the son she had became the first Egyptian Pharaoh.
2
2
Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
It is said that the transformation is symbolic of the fact that cows were very important symbols in many ancient religions (and are still sacred to Hindus today). Many ancient societies were completely dependent on cattle and started thinking of bovines as completely divine. More specifically, cows were often the symbols and sacred animals of mother goddesses like Hera. So, as one version goes, Zeus turns Io into a heifer to try to appease Hera with an animal that's sacred to and symbolic of her. On a larger symbolic level, having been received in Egypt by Isis (a major goddess whose reverence in ancient Egypt spread throughout the Graeco-Roman world) and the river-god Nile, Io too is seen as a mother goddess.
In many human cultures, cows symbolize fertility, generosity, motherhood, the origins of life, and are related to serenity.