io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of 3,642 kilometres (2,263 mi), the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus.
~- Inakhos, a king of Argos, founded a city which he named for the moon, Io, for that is what Argives call the moon. He also had a daughter Io; Pekos who is also Zeus abducted her and fathered a daughter, Libya, by her. And Io, lamenting her ruin, fled to the Silpion Mountain and there died. Her father and her brothers, when they learned this, built a shrine to her and called the place Iopolis and remained there until the end. And they performed a ritual in her memory, banging on each other's doors every year and saying 'io, io!
~ io was tied to an olive tree in Heraion, the holy temple of Hera outside Argos, and the fierce hundred-eyed dog, Argus Panoptes, was guarding her and keeping Zeus away. However, Zeus found the way to set Io free and disregard his wife without doing it in person. He sent Hermes, the messenger god, to kill Argus, which was an extremely difficult task, since Argus always had fifty eyes open and fifty at sleep. Hermes took the form of a shepherd who is good at music and story telling. Using his skills, Hermes lulled all hundred eyes of Argus to sleep and killed him. Mythology has it that Hera took all the hundred eyes of Argus and placed them on the tail of her favourite bird, the peacock, which was her symbol. ~ 4 io ~
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Io, thus, met chained Prometheus during her journey, who gave her comfort. He predicted that, one day, Io would take back her human form, bear children from Zeus and one of her descendants would come to free Prometheus from his torture. After many years of wandering, Io eventually reached Egypt, where Zeus gave her back her human form. Io bore a son, Epaphus, and a daughter, Keroessa, from Zeus. According to mythology, Epaphus later founded the town of Memphis in Egypt, which he named after his wife. Keroessa mated with sea god Poseidon and gave birth to a son, Byzas, who would later found the town of Byzantium, now known as Constantinople. ~ * ~
Io eventually married Telegonus, the king of Egypt, and their grandson, Danaus, would return to Greece with his fifty daughters, the Danaides. Eleven generations afterwards, one of Io?s descendants, the legendary Hercules, would set Prometheus free from his chains. The descendants of Io would also make the royal houses of Thebes and Argos
Io was another woman to whom Zeus (Jupiter) fell in love and made her suffer. She was a beautiful girl living in Argos, central Greece, when Zeus (Jupiter) saw her and fell madly in love. Disguised into a cloud, Zeus made love to her. His jealous wife, however, Hera, learnt about this relationship and turned Io into a cow to keep her away from her husband. Io was about to suffer many misfortunes until she was finally turned into a woman again and have a normal life...
Io was the daughter of Inachus, one of the River Gods and king of Argos. She was a beautiful, young girl and a priestess of goddess Hera. However, one day, great god Zeus saw her and fell madly in love with this maiden. Io was constantly avoiding his amorous attempts, until Zeus took the form of clouds, surrounded her and made love to her. Unfortunately, his jealous wife, Hera, learned about this relationship and turned Io into a white cow to punish her and stop them from getting involved. ~ io
