Io’s Family Tree

About Io →

Family

• Zeus(spouse),Epaphus(child)— Consort

  Zeus and Io conceived Epaphus in Egypt after Zeus restored Io to human form with a touch of his hand. Epaphus became king of Egypt and ancestor of the Danaids.

• Inachus(parent)

  Io is the daughter of the river god Inachus of Argos, according to Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound and most ancient sources.

Guarded by

• Argus Panoptes

  Hera set the hundred-eyed giant Argus Panoptes to guard Io after transforming her into a heifer. When Hermes killed Argus, Hera placed his eyes upon her sacred peacock.

Enemy of

• Hera

  Hera transformed Io into a white heifer and set the hundred-eyed Argus to guard her, then tormented Io with a gadfly that drove her wandering across the world.

Associated with

• Caduceus

  Hermes wielded the Caduceus to put Argus Panoptes to sleep, enabling him to slay the giant and free Io from Hera's captivity on Zeus's orders.

• Hermes

  Zeus sent Hermes to free Io from the watchful Argus Panoptes. Hermes lulled Argus to sleep with music and stories, then slew him, earning the epithet Argeiphontes.

• Prometheus

  In Prometheus Bound, the wandering Io encounters the chained Prometheus, who prophesies her future journey and reveals that her descendant Heracles will one day free him from his torment.

• Syrinx

  The myth of Syrinx is embedded within Io's story in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Hermes narrates Syrinx's transformation to distract Argus, who guards the captive Io, linking the two nymphs' fates through narrative framing.

• Zeus

  Zeus loved Io and transformed her into a white cow to hide her from Hera. After Hermes slew her guardian Argus, Io wandered to Egypt where Zeus restored her human form.