Supplices
Aeschylus
Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.
- how it is that you trace your race and lineage from Argos.
- Is there a report that once in this land of Argos Io was ward of Hera’s house?
- Certainly she was; the tradition prevails far and wide.
- And is there some story, too, that Zeus was joined in love with a mortal?
- This entanglement was not secret from Hera.
- What then was the result of this royal strife?
- The goddess of Argos transformed the woman into a cow.
- And while she was a horned cow, did not Zeus approach her?
- So they say, making his form that of a bull lusting for a mate.
- What answer then did Zeus’ stubborn consort give?
- She placed the all-seeing one to stand watch over the cow.
- What manner of all-seeing herdsman with a single duty do you mean?
- Argus, a son of Earth, whom Hermes slew.
- What else did she contrive against the unfortunate cow?
- A sting, torment of cattle, constantly driving her on.
- They call it a gadfly, those who dwell by the Nile.
- Well then, it drove her by a long course out of the land.
- Your account agrees with mine in all respects.
- So she came to Canobus and to Memphis.
- And Zeus begot a son by the touching of his hand.