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Keeping watch

John Millen

Hera, the Mother of the Gods, was not pleased. This meant life for all the gods on Mount Olympus was very miserable. When Hera threw things at anyone who came near her, there was only one reason for her behaviour. She was having problems with Zeus, her husband.

Zeus loved to go down to Earth to cause havoc in some poor human's life. Especially, when a pretty young girl caught his attention, things always ended in chaos and unhappiness.

And a couple of months ago, Zeus had targeted a young woman called Io, who had fallen completely for old Zeus' charm and flattery. Every time he met her, the cunning Father of the Gods gave her flowers and gifts and entranced her with sweet words.

Up on Mount Olympus, Hera decided it was high time she caught her husband red-handed with one of his human girlfriends. So one afternoon, when Zeus had gone missing again, she jumped on a cloud and travelled down to Earth.

Zeus had taken Io on a picnic, and as always, he had switched on his divine radar system to warn him if his wife should suddenly turn up. When his radar started to bleep, Zeus panicked. Hera was somewhere around. He had to act quickly.

'Sorry, my dear. I have to do this. But don't worry. I'll change you back in a short while. No problem!'

And what did Zeus do? He changed Io into a white cow! When Hera arrived, Zeus was innocently eating the food all alone while a white cow was grazing happily nearby.

But Hera was no fool and she knew exactly what her husband had done.

'Hello, husband dear!' said Hera. 'Oh! What a beautiful white cow! You know I have always wanted a cow as a pet. I am going to take her up to Mount Olympus and give her a home in my garden.'

And before Zeus could protest, Hera seized the rope around the cow's neck, led her to a waiting cloud and took her back to Mount Olympus.

Zeus was distraught. How could he change Io back to her real self? Hera had ordered Argus, the monster with 100, ever-open eyes, to guard the cow. Zeus dared not go into Hera's garden himself and rescue poor Io. The Father of the Gods was at his wits' end.

In desperation, Zeus told his son Hermes about the incident and asked him to sort things out. The two of them came up with a plan. Hermes wandered into Hera's garden and began playing a really boring tune on his flute. Soon, one of Argus' eyes closed, then another winked shut. Then 50 eyes closed with boredom, and soon all the monster's eyes were closed as it slept. Hermes summoned up a death spell, and Argus rolled over, dead as a doorknob.

Zeus rushed into the garden and turned Io back into a beautiful young lady. He quickly stuck her on a cloud and sent her back to earth.

When Hera discovered that the cow had escaped and that her favourite monster had died on the job, she took Argus' 100 eyes and stuck them onto the tail of the peacock, which she thought was a rather dull-looking bird.

Zeus promised Hera he would not see Io again. But he didn't want to. There were lots of other pretty girls on Earth, and the Father of the Gods had no intention of changing his ways just because he had had one close shave.

'Let's have a look,' he mumbled to himself.

'Who shall I visit next?'

A peacock screeched in the distance, but Zeus took no notice. His mind was on other things.

Comprehension

1 In Greek mythology who is Hera?

2 At the start of the story, why was she in such a bad mood?

3 What did she decide to do?

4 How did Zeus get out of the sticky situation he found himself in with Io?

5 Why did Hera choose Argus to guard her pet cow?

6 What happened to Argus' 100 eyes after his death?

Answers:

1 Hera is the Mother of the Gods, the wife of Zeus.

2 Because she suspected that Zeus had a girlfriend down on Earth.

3 She decided to follow him and catch him red-handed.

4 He changed Io temporarily into a white cow.

5 Because he had 100 eyes that could keep watch very closely.

6 Hera used them to decorate the tail of the peacock.

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