Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Io

The Pilassi were the original inhabitants of ancient Greece.Their king was Inachus.He has a beautiful daughter named Io.Once, Io was shepherding sheep for his father on the meadow of Lena. The master of the holy mountain of Olympus saw her at a glance and fell in love with her immediately.The fire of love in Zeus's heart was getting hotter and hotter, so he disguised himself as a man, came to the world, and seduced and teased Io with sweet words: "Oh, young girl, how happy is the person who can have you! But in the world No mortal is worthy of you, you are only fit to be the wife of the king of gods. Let me tell you, I am Zeus, don't be afraid!

The heat at noon is unstoppable, follow me to the shade on the left to rest, why are you torturing yourself under the scorching sun at noon? You go into the dark woods, don't be afraid, I am willing to protect you.I am the God who is attached to the scepter of heaven, and I can send lightning directly to the ground. " The girl was very frightened, and in order to escape his temptation, she ran quickly.She would have escaped if the Lord God had not exercised his power and plunged the entire region into darkness.Now, she is wrapped in clouds and mist.She slowed down for fear of hitting a rock or slipping into the water.So, fell into the hands of Zeus.

Hera, the mother of the gods, is the wife of Zeus, and she has long been familiar with her husband's infidelity.He betrays his wife, but loves the daughter of a mortal or a demigod indiscriminately.Hera's suspicion grew day by day, and she closely monitored all the pleasure-seeking behaviors of her husband in the world.At this time, she was surprised to find that there was a place on the ground that was cloudy and misty even on a sunny day.That doesn't come naturally.Suspicious at once, Hera sought out her unfaithful husband.She searched all over the holy mountain of Olympus, but she couldn't find Zeus. "If I'm not mistaken," she said to herself angrily, "the husband must be doing something to hurt my feelings!" So she descended to the earth on a cloud and commanded the fog that enfolded the tempter and his prey Spread out quickly.

Zeus expected his wife to come, and in order to save the beloved girl from his wife's revenge, he transformed Inarchus' lovely daughter into a snow-white heifer.Even in this state, handsome Io is still beautiful.Hera immediately saw through her husband's trick, pretended to praise the beautiful animal, and asked whose heifer it was and what breed it was.Zeus, in his embarrassment, had to lie that the cow was nothing more than a creature of the earth, a purebred.Hera pretended to be satisfied with his answer, but asked her husband to give her the beautiful animal as a gift.Now what is the deceiver who has been deceived to do?He is in a dilemma:

If he grants her request, he will lose his lovely girl; if he refuses her request, he will inevitably arouse her suspicion and jealousy, and the unfortunate girl will suffer a vicious revenge.After much deliberation, he decided to give up the girl temporarily and give this glamorous heifer to his wife.Hera pretended to be satisfied, tied a belt around the heifer's neck, and triumphantly led the robbed girl away.However, even though the Goddess was able to deceive the cow, she was still worried.She knew that her heart would always be troubled if she could not find a safe place for her rival.So she found Argos, the son of Aristotle.This monster seems to be especially suitable for the guard's job. He has a hundred eyes, and only closes one pair of eyes when he sleeps, and the rest are open, shining like a star, bright and energetic.

Hera hired Argos to guard poor Io so that Zeus could not rob his beleaguered lover.Io grazed all day long on a meadow full of rich grass, under the watchful eye of the hundred eyes of Argos.Argus stood near her all the time, with a hundred eyes fixed on her, faithfully performing his duties as watchman.Sometimes he turned his back to the girl, but he could still see the girl because he had eyes in front of his forehead and back of his head.As the sun went down, he chained her around her neck.She ate bitter grass and leaves, slept on the hard and cold ground, and drank the stale water of the pool, for she was a heifer.Io often forgets that she is no longer human now.She wanted to stretch out her poor hands and beg Argus for mercy and sympathy, but she suddenly remembered that she had no arms.She wanted to plead with him in touching words, but when she opened her mouth, she could only let out a low growl, which shocked even herself.Argos was not always guarding her in a fixed pasture, because Hera told him to constantly change Io's residence, making it difficult for Zeus to find her.In this way, Io's guards led her to graze in various places.One day, Io found herself in her hometown, on the bank of a river where she used to play as a child.At this time, Io saw his own face in the clear river for the first time.When a horned animal head appeared in the water, she was so frightened that she involuntarily took a few steps back, not daring to look any further.With attachment to her sisters and to her father Inarchus, she came to them, but they did not know her.Inachus stroked her beautiful body, and fed her with a handful of leaves from a small tree.

When Io gratefully licked his hand and caressed it with tears and kisses, the old man didn't know who he was stroking, and who was thanking him just now. Finally Io came up with an idea to save herself.Though transformed into a heifer, her mind was intact, and she began to write with her foot on the ground, which caught her father's attention.Inarcus soon knew from the writing on the ground that the person standing in front of him was his own daughter. "God, I'm such an unfortunate person!" The old man exclaimed, stretched out his arms, and hugged the neck of the troubled daughter tightly, "I searched for you all over the country, but I didn't expect you to be like this! Alas, It is more sad to see you than not to see you! Why don't you speak? Poor, you can't give me a word of comfort, you can only answer me with a cow! I used to be so stupid, I just wanted to choose a good match for you Husband-in-law, I was thinking of buying you a bridal torch for your future marriage. Now, you have turned into a cow..." Before Inachus could finish his words, Argus, the cruel guard, started from Ina Kos snatched Io from his hands and led her away.Then, he climbed up a high mountain by himself, and watched all around vigilantly with his one hundred eyes.

Zeus couldn't stand the girl being tortured for a long time.He summoned his son Hermes and ordered him to use cunning to induce Inarchus to close all his eyes.Hermes took a drowsy thorn stick, left his father's palace, and descended to the world.He dropped his hat and wings, and carried only his stick, looking like a shepherd.Hermes called a flock of sheep to follow him to the meadow.Here is where Io gnawed the young grass, and Argos watched over her.Hermes drew a reed pipe.The reed flute is antique, elegant and unique. He played music, which was more beautiful than that played by the shepherds in the world. Argus liked this charming flute sound very much.He got up from the rock on which he was sitting high, and called down: "My friend who plays the flute, whoever you are, I welcome you warmly. Come, sit on the rock beside me, and rest for a while! Don't The grass is not as lush and fresh as here. Look, how comfortable the shade is here!"

Hermes thanked him, climbed up the hill, and sat down beside him.The two chatted.The more they talked, the more speculative they became, and the day was almost over before they knew it.Argus yawned a few times, his hundred eyes dimmed with sleep.Hermes played the reed flute again, trying to lull Argos to sleep.But Argus was afraid of his mistress' anger, and dared not relax his duties.Although his hundred eyelids were about to give up, he fought desperately against drowsiness, letting some of his eyes sleep first while the other remained open, keeping a close eye on the heifer in case it escaped.

Although Argus had a hundred eyes, he had never seen that kind of reed pipe. He was curious and asked about the origin of this reed flute. "I would like to tell you," said Hermes, "if you are not too late and have the patience to listen. Once upon a time on the snow-capped mountains of Arcadia lived a The famous mountain goddess, her name is Hamadryades, also known as Xurenx. At that time, the satyr and the god of agriculture Saturn were obsessed with her beauty and pursued her passionately, but she was always clever. She escaped their pursuit for she was afraid of marriage. Like the girded Artemis of the hunt, she was to remain celibate and live a virgin life, but at last when Pan, the mighty mountain god, roamed the forest, he Seeing this goddess, he approached her and courted her eagerly based on his prominent position. But she refused him and fled away. After a while, she disappeared on the vast grassland. She fled to Latong. By the river. The river was flowing slowly, but the river was too wide for her to wade through. The girl was very anxious, so she had to beg her guardian goddess Artemis to sympathize with her and help her change her appearance before the mountain god came after her. At this time, Pan, the mountain god, rushed to her. He opened his arms and hugged the girl standing on the bank of the river. But to his surprise, he found that he was not hugging the girl, but a reed. The mountain god said sadly There was a groan, thick and loud as it passed through the reed pipes. At last the despondent god was comforted by the wondrous sound. "Well, transfigured lover," he cried with sudden joy in his agony." Even so, we are bound together! After finishing speaking, he cut the reed into small rods of different lengths, connected the reed rods with wax, and named his reed flute after the girl Hamadryades. From then on, we called this reed flute For Syrencus."

While Hermes was telling the story, he looked at Argos intently.Before the story was finished, Argus closed his eyes one by one.Finally, all one hundred of his eyes were closed, and he fell into a deep sleep.Now Hermes ceased to play the reeds, and with his staff he touched the hundred eyes of Argos to make them sleep more deeply.Argus finally fell asleep uncontrollably, and Hermes quickly pulled out a sharp sword hidden in his jacket pocket, and chopped off his head at the neck. Io was set free.She still has the appearance of a heifer, but the rope around her neck has been removed.She happily ran back and forth on the grass without restraint.Of course, everything that happened in the lower realm could not escape Hera's eyes.She came up with a new torture method to deal with her rival.By chance she caught a gadfly.She made the cow busy biting the lovely heifer, and the biting was so hard that the heifer couldn't stand it and almost went mad.Terrified, she was chased by the Gadfly and fled all over the world.It fled to the Caucasus, it fled to Scutia, it fled to the Amazon tribes, it fled to the Bosphorus, it fled to the Sea of ​​Assef.She crossed the ocean to Asia.Finally, after a long journey, it came to Egypt in despair.On the bank of the Nile, Io was extremely exhausted. She knelt down on her front feet, raised her head, and looked up at the holy mountain of Olympus, with pleading eyes in her eyes.When Zeus saw her, he was deeply moved, and felt pity for him, so he immediately came to Hera.He embraced her and begged her to have mercy on the poor girl.Although the girl was lost, he said, she did not seduce him, she was innocent.Pointing to the river Styx, where the gods swear, he swore to his wife that he would give up his love for the girl and never pursue her again.At this moment, Hera also heard the heifer whining for advice towards the holy mountain of Olympus.The mother of gods finally relented and allowed Zeus to restore Io to her original form. Zeus hurried to the Nile and reached out to stroke the heifer's back.A miracle appeared immediately: the shaggy hair on the heifer disappeared, the horns retracted, the eyes became smaller, the mouth became small human lips, the shoulders and two hands appeared, the hooves disappeared suddenly, Everything about the heifer was gone except for the beautiful white color.Io stood up slowly from the ground.She has regained her charming and beautiful image, which is very lovable.On the banks of the Nile, Io bore Zeus a son, Epaphos, who later became king of Egypt.The local people love this miraculously saved woman very much and regard her as a goddess.Io ruled that place as a matriarch for a long time.However, she never got Hera's complete forgiveness.Hera instigated the barbaric Quetes to snatch her young son Epaphos.Io had to wander again, looking for her son.She found her son on the border of Ethiopia after Zeus struck the Quetes to death with lightning. She returned to Egypt with her son and asked him to assist her in governing the country. Epaphos married Memphis and gave birth to his daughter Libia.The place of Libya is named after her, because the daughter of Epaphos once had that name.Epaphos and his mother were revered and loved in Egypt.After their death, to commemorate them, the Egyptians built temples for them and worshiped them as gods, she was the god Isis, and he was the god Apis.