ARGUS  , in

ancient Greek mythology, the son of Inachus, Agenor or Arestor, or, according to others, an earth-born hero (autochthon) . He was called Panoptes (all-seeing), from having eyes all over his body . After performing several feats of valour, he was appointed by Hera to watch the cow into which Io had been transformed . While doing this he was slain by Hermes, who stoned him to death, or put him to sleep by playing on the flute and then cut off his head . His eyes were transferred by Hera to the tail of the peacock . Argus with his countless eyes originally denoted the starry heavens (Apollodorus ii . 1; Aeschylus, P . V . 569; Ovid, Metam. i . 264) . Another ARGUS, the old dog of Odysseus, who recognized his master on his return to Ithaca, figures in one of the best-known incidents in Homer's Odyssey (xvii . 291-326) .