Argus: Encyclopedia - Argus

Argus

There are five figures in Greek mythology named Argus:

1. Argus Panoptes, (Argus "all eyes") was a giant with a hundred eyes. He was also the nymph Io's brother. He was thus a very effective watchman, as only a few of the eyes would sleep at a time; there were always eyes still awake. Argus was Hera's servant. His great service to the Olympian pantheon was to slay the chthonic serpent-legged monster Echidna as she slept in her cave (Homer, Iliad ii.783; Hesiod, Theogony, 295ff; Apollodorus, ii.i.2). Hera's last task for Argus was to guard a white heifer from Zeus. She charged him to "Tether this cow safely to an olive-tree at Nemea". Hera knew that the heifer was in reality Io, one of the many nymphs Zeus was coupling with to establish a new order.

To free Io, Zeus had Argus slain by Hermes. Hermes, disguised as a shepherd, first put all of Argus's eyes asleep with boring stories. To commemorate her faithful watchman, Hera had the hundred eyes of Argus preserved forever, in a peacock's tail (Ovid I, 625).

2. Argus (or Argos) is also the name of a long-lived dog owned by Odysseus in Odyssey. When Odysseus returns from his voyages and wears the disguise of a beggar that Athena places upon him, only Odysseus's elderly wetnurse, Eurycleia, and his old, faithful dog, Argus, recognize him. After Argus recognizes his long-lost master, he dies a peaceful death.

3. Argus in the tale of the Argonauts is a shipwright, the builder of the ship the Argo, named after its builder. The vessel was used by Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece, Jason and his compatriots called themselves Argonauts, after the ship.

4. Argus was the eponym of Argos. The son of Zeus and Niobe, daughter of Phoroneus, he succeeded his uncle Apis as King of Phoronea, which he renamed after himself. According to one account, he married Evadne, the daughter of Strymon and Neaera, and bore Ecbasus, Peiras, Epidaurus and Criasus. According to another account, his wife was nameless, and his sons were Peiras, Phorbas, and Tiryns.

5. Argus was the eldest son of Phrixus and Chalciope, daughter of Aeetes. Argus and his brothers set out to return to their grandfather's kingdom of Orchomenus, but were shipwrecked and rescued by the Argonauts. Argus and his brothers Cytissorus, Melas and Phrontis aided Jason and the Argonauts in their quest, and later returned with them to Greece.

Categories: Greek mythology | Characters in the Odyssey

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Argus", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki