Argus Panoptes
Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes covering his body — the all-seeing watchman whom Hera set to guard Io.
The Myth of Argus Panoptes
Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes — some always open, some always closed — making him the perfect sentinel. Hera set Argus to guard Io, whom Zeus had transformed into a white cow to hide their affair. Argus watched Io ceaselessly, tethering her near Hera's sanctuary at Mycenae. Zeus, desperate to free his lover, sent Hermes to deal with the giant. Hermes disguised himself as a shepherd, lulled Argus to sleep with stories and music from his reed pipes, then slew him with his sword. Hera, mourning her faithful guardian, placed his hundred eyes on the tail of the peacock, her sacred bird. Io, freed but still cursed, wandered the world until reaching Egypt, where Zeus restored her.
Parents
Arestor (or Gaia)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Jeremy Bentham's "panopticon" prison — where all inmates can be watched at once — takes its name from Argus Panoptes, "all-seeing."
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Cyclops
🐉 creatureOne-eyed giant
Race of one-eyed giants. The original three Cyclopes forged Zeus's thunderbolts; later Cyclopes were savage shepherds, the most famous being Polyphemus.
Polyphemus
🐉 creatureThe Cyclops blinded by Odysseus
Polyphemus was the one-eyed giant Cyclops, son of Poseidon, who trapped Odysseus's men in his cave and ate six of them before Odysseus blinded him and escaped.
Geryon
🐉 creatureThree-bodied giant of the west
Geryon was a giant with three bodies joined at the waist who owned magnificent red cattle at the world's western edge — Heracles' tenth labour was to steal them.
Alcyoneus
🐉 creaturegiants
The mightiest of the Gigantes, immortal within his homeland, who stole the cattle of Helios
Cyclopes
🐉 creaturesmithing, monstrous
One-eyed giants who existed in two distinct traditions: divine craftsmen who forged Zeus's thunderbolts, and savage pastoral giants encountered by Odysseus.
Briareos
🐉 creaturegiants,sea
One of the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Giants), beings of immense power with fifty heads and one hundred arms, allies of Zeus in the Titanomachy.
Polyphemus
🐉 creaturesavagery
One-eyed giant son of Poseidon who trapped Odysseus and ate six of his men before being blinded with a burning stake.
Gegenees
🐉 creaturegiants
Six-armed earth-born giants who attacked the Argonauts on Bear Mountain
Hecatoncheires
🐉 creatureHundred-handed giants
The Hecatoncheires were three giants, each with a hundred hands and fifty heads — the most powerful beings born before the Olympians.
Talos
🐉 creatureBronze automaton guardian of Crete
Talos was a giant man made of bronze who guarded Crete by running around the island three times daily, hurling boulders at approaching ships.
Aloadae
🐉 creaturegiants, rebellion
Twin giants who grew nine fathoms each year and attempted to storm Olympus by stacking mountains, threatening the gods before Artemis or Apollo destroyed them.
Constellation Orion
💭 conceptastronomy, hunting
The giant hunter of Greek mythology, placed among the stars by Zeus or Artemis, forming one of the most recognisable constellations in the night sky.