Io is the daughter of a river nymph. Jupiter falls in love with her, and one day overtakes her in the woods and rapes her. Jupiter transforms Io into a white cow so that she can escape Juno, who has discovered his infidelity. Suspecting that the cow is Io, Juno convinces Jupiter to give her the cow. While Io is in Juno’s custody, she writes her name in the dust with her hoof to let her father know who she is. Juno continues to torture Io until Jupiter begs her to stop, promising not to pursue Io again. Juno consents and returns Io to her human form.
Io Quotes in Metamorphoses
The Metamorphoses quotes below are all either spoken by Io or refer to Io . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1: Io (1)
Quotes
If only words could have followed her tears, she’d have begged him for help;
she’d have told him her name and described her plight. Two letters were all
that could serve for words, two letters traced by a hoof in the dust,
which revealed her name and the sorry tale of her transformation.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Metamorphoses LitChart as a printable PDF.
Io Quotes in Metamorphoses
The Metamorphoses quotes below are all either spoken by Io or refer to Io . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1: Io (1)
Quotes
If only words could have followed her tears, she’d have begged him for help;
she’d have told him her name and described her plight. Two letters were all
that could serve for words, two letters traced by a hoof in the dust,
which revealed her name and the sorry tale of her transformation.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
