Argos

Argos, also known as Argus Panoptes, is renowned for his unique feature of having many eyes. In Ancient Greek, Panoptes means "all-seeing," which reflects Argos' capability to be ever-vigilant. He is often depicted as a giant with a hundred eyes, making him an ideal guard due to his ability to sleep with some eyes open while others remained awake. Argos' most famous myth involves Hera, the queen of the gods, and her husband Zeus' unfaithful escapades. Hera assigned Argos Panoptes to guard Io, a priestess of Hera and one of Zeus' lovers, whom Hera had transformed into a heifer to protect her from Zeus’ further attentions.

Zeus, distressed by Io's absence, sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods and the god of thieves and trickery, to abscond with Io. Hermes approached Argos under the guise of a shepherd and used his cunning to lull Argos to sleep by telling stories and playing the pan flute, a musical instrument Hermes himself invented. Once all of Argos' eyes were closed, Hermes fulfilled Zeus' command by killing Argos to free Io.

As a tribute to Argos Panoptes' service and vigilance, Hera took his hundred eyes and set them on the tail of her sacred animal, the peacock, symbolizing the watchfulness and all-seeing nature of her previous servant.