The Greek poet Ovid (43 BC – AD 18) told in his Metamophoses how it came about that Juno took the eyes from the giant Argus and put them on the tail feathers of the peacock. Juno was Jupiter’s sister. But she also became his wife and experienced his many escapades. One of her rivals, Io, changed Juno into a white cow and made the giant Argus guard it. Argus had a hundred eyes, only a limited number of which slept at any one time – the rest were awake. And so it was a difficult task Mercury was given when Jupiter sent him off to get his mistress Io back. Nevertheless, Mercury was able to use the gentle notes of his flute playing to lull Argus to sleep. Finally, all the eyes were closed, and Mercury cut Argus’s head off. Juno made use of the opportunity to collect all Argus’s eyes. She fixed them on her peacock’s tail, where, according to the legend, they shone like jewels.
