In Greek mythology, Hera, the Queen of the Olympian gods and goddesses, commanded Argus to watch over Io. Io was a woman with whom Zeus - the ruler of the Olympians - had conducted a passionate love affair. However, in order to protect his mistress from the wrath of his wife, Zeus had transformed Io into a heifer. So Hera, who was quite clever, had Argus guard her rival, the heifer Io. Zeus was not pleased. He sent the god Hermes to dispatch the monster. Hermes managed to subdue Argus, and here the details differ depending on the source of the myth. Some sources suggest that Hermes lulled Argus to sleep, while others state that Hermes killed the monster.
So in the end, the nearly perfect guard creature was defeated by the wit and cunning of Hermes. Hera paid tribute to Argus by placing his eyes into the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird. In this way, Argus was immortalized, his eyes adorning the feathers of Hera's peacock.
According to some superstitions, the "eyes" on the peacock's feathers are the "evil eye" so, if you place peacock feathers in your home you will never have privacy. Kelly, I don't think that applies for paintings of peacocks, but with kids, who has any privacy anyway?
Who knew??
ReplyDeleteAnd P.S. You look so much like my cousin in Michigan! In you profile pic, at least!
Pretty!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother, daughter of Greek immigrants, wouldn't let us ever have peacock feathers in the house, but she did have a ceramic figure or two of the bird. (She had a LOT of ceramic figures.)
So, I figure the painting is okay. And as you point out, privacy? Ha. Ha.
preeeettty!
ReplyDeleteThere's also an old theatrical superstition that peacock feathers on the stage cause bad luck.
ReplyDeleteSo if you're going to act like an ass at home, make sure there's no peacock feathers around.