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Juno, who was the daughter of Saturn and Cybele, was also sister and wife
to Jupiter. Her pride protected her beauty: for when the God, to seduce
her, took the form of a cuckoo, she recognised him in his disguise, and
refused to submit to his wishes, unless he would consent to marry her. At
their nuptials, invitations were sent to all the Gods, and beings of even a
lower order were not forgotten. But one nymph, by the insolence of her
refusal, merited {26} the punishment she received of being changed into a
tortoise, and became the symbol of silence.
As might be expected, the marriage of Jupiter and Juno, was not productive
of much happiness, the jealousy of the latter being a never-failing source
of misery; it was this which caused the celebrated Trojan war; and this
that caused Jupiter to suspend her from Heaven by a golden cord, in the
attempt to rescue her from which, Vulcan achieved the wrath of his sire,
the Thunderer.
[Illustration]
The intrigue of Jupiter with Io, is also celebrated in the history of his
amours. Juno became jealous as usual, discovered the object of his
affections, and surprised him in the company of Io; a change soon took
place in the appearance of the latter, when, through the {27} influence of
the God, she assumed the form of a white heifer. Juno instantly discovered
the fraud, and requested Jupiter to give her possession of an animal she so
much admired.
The request was too reasonable to be refused, and Io became the property of
Juno, who placed her under the control of the hundred-eyed Argus: but
Jupiter, anxious for the situation of Io, sent Mercury, who destroyed
Argus, and restored her to liberty.
"Down from the rock fell the dissevered head,
Opening its eyes in death, and falling bled,
And marked the passage with a crimson trail;
Thus Argus lies in pieces, cold and pale,
And all his hundred eyes with all their light
Are closed at once in one perpetual night;
These Juno takes, that they no more may fail,
And spreads them in her peacock's gaudy tail."