Pavo was introduced to people at the end of the sixtennth century. Pavo represents the peacocks of India.
In Greek Mythology, the peacock was the sacred bird of Hera, who rode in a chariot drawn by peacocks. The Greek myths told of how the peacock cam to have eyes on its tail. One day Zeus turned his love, Io, into a white cow to disguise Io from his wife. Hera became suspiscious and put the cow guardianship. Argus watched Io tied to a tree. Argus was a good watcher, since he had 100 eyes. Two eyes took turns watching Io.
One day, Zeus sent his son to go and rescue Io. Hermes played and told stories and played his reeds for Argus until one by one his eyes fell asleep. When Argus finally went to sleep, Hermes cut off his Argus' head and freed Io from captivity. Hera, then place the eyes of Argus on the tail of the peacock. |
