Argus Panoptes in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Argus Panoptes

8 passages from 5 ancient authors that tell of Argus Panoptes, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Argus Panoptes or Argos was a hundred-eyed giant in Greek mythology. He was a giant, the son of Arestor, whose name "Panoptes" meant "the all-seeing o... For the story in one place, read our article on Argus Panoptes.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.

Homer (4)

Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.290–394Hymn 2 to Demeter (4): the famine and the mission of HermesIn her new temple Demeter withholds the grain and a terrible year follows, which threatens the offerings of the gods. Zeus sends Iris and then the other gods to persuade her, but she will not return to Olympus without her daughter. Zeus sends Hermes to the underworld; Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but first gives her a pomegranate seed to eat, and Hermes drives her back to Eleusis, where her mother embraces her.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 5.105–214Hymn 5 to Aphrodite (2): Aphrodite's false story and the revelationAphrodite answers that she is no goddess but a mortal girl from Phrygia, the daughter of Otreus, brought to him by Hermes. Anchises takes her to his bed, and when she wakes him he sees her neck and eyes, knows her for a goddess, and is afraid. She reminds him of Ganymedes, taken by Zeus to pour wine for the gods, and of the gifts Zeus gave his father Tros as recompense.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 4.1–90Hymn 4 to Hermes (1): the newborn god makes the lyreHermes is born in a cave on Mount Cyllene to Maia and Zeus and is out of his cradle by midday. Finding a tortoise at the entrance to the cave, he kills it and makes the first lyre from its shell, singing of his own birth. In the evening he goes to Pieria, where Apollo's cattle graze, steals them, and tells an old man who sees him to keep silent.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 4.340–444Hymn 4 to Hermes (4): the quarrel before ZeusBefore Zeus, Apollo accuses Hermes of stealing his cows, and Hermes swears that he is innocent. Zeus laughs at the child's cleverness and orders the two to find the cattle together. Hermes leads Apollo to the herd, plays the lyre, and Apollo, astonished by the sound, asks where he learned such a gift.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 609–686Second episode: Io tells her storyPrometheus tells Io who he is, that he gave fire to mankind, and that Zeus and Hephaestus bound him, but he will not say why he is punished. At the Chorus' urging she tells how dreams urged her to go to the meadow of Lerna to meet Zeus, how her father Inachus received oracles that told him to cast her out, and how she was changed into a cow and pursued by Argus and by the gadfly.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.689–746Pan and Syrinx; the death of ArgusHermes (Mercury) tells how the nymph Syrinx fled from Pan to the river Ladon and was turned into reeds, from which Pan made his pipes. Argus falls asleep and Hermes kills him, and Hera (Juno) sets his eyes in the tail of the peacock. She then torments Io until Zeus (Jupiter) promises to leave her alone, and Io is restored to her old shape.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 19.1–20.11Dithyrambs 19–20: Io and Argus; Idas and MarpessaDithyramb 19 tells of Io, driven by the gadfly, and asks whether Hermes slew the watcher Argus or lulled him to sleep. She came to the banks of the Nile and bore Epaphus, and from that race sprang Cadmus and Dionysus. Dithyramb 20, a fragment, tells how the maidens of Lacedaemon sang of Idas bringing home Marpessa in a chariot given by Poseidon.