would restore her to her original form. Io finally swam across the sea, later named the Ionian Sea after her, and reached Egypt. The was changed back into a woman and bore Zeus’ son, Eaphus, who was the ancestor of the Greek hero Hercules. Hercules later ended up freeing Prometheus from his rock. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalytical theories on the unconscious mind, which is where he believed myth to be derived from. His ideas can be used to incorporate a common theme in every myth. This universal idea was in male-female relationships. He believed there to be a power struggle among every relationship: male-female, male-male, and female-female. Freud’s explanation for this was that everyone had a mother and father, therefore the subconscious possessed these psychological ideas about sexuality. In applying these ideas to the myth of Io, there is the obvious sexual relationship between Io and Zeus. Zeus, as the king of the gods, is in a place of immense power and Io is inferior to him. According to Freud, Io’s submission to Zeus is unconsciously an act to replicate a father-daughter relationship. The daughter is subconsciously sexually attracted to her father and acts out on this desire. Looking at the relationship between Io and Hera, the sexual tension turns to competition. The older wife is jealous of the younger, attractive girl. The Freudian idea of anxiety, in which a person uses defense mechanisms to protect themselves from danger situations, is evident here. One of these danger situations is the fear of abandonment of a loved one. Hera’s crazed jealousy is a natural, basic instinct of survival. Although Zeus was notorious for his infidelity, Hera, being the inferior partner, had little to compulsion to do anything about it. Hera’s anxiety about her husband caused her to use what Freud refers to as ego defense mechanisms. Hera displaced her anger of Zeus to Io. In sending the g...
