Aegyptus
A mythological king with fifty sons who demanded marriage to the fifty daughters of his brother Danaus, precipitating one of the most infamous mass killings in Greek mythology
The Legend of Aegyptus
Aegyptus was the son of Belus, king of Egypt, and the twin brother of Danaus. He was the mythological figure from whom the land of Egypt was said to take its name. Aegyptus had fifty sons, while Danaus had fifty daughters, known as the Danaids. Aegyptus demanded that his fifty sons marry the fifty daughters of Danaus, but Danaus, warned by an oracle that a son-in-law would kill him, refused and fled with his daughters to Argos, where they sought asylum. Aegyptus sent his sons in pursuit, and they laid siege to Argos until Danaus was forced to agree to the marriages. On the wedding night, however, Danaus gave each daughter a dagger and instructed her to murder her husband. Forty-nine of the fifty Danaids obeyed, killing their bridegrooms as they slept. Only Hypermnestra spared her husband Lynceus, either out of love or because he had respected her wish to remain a virgin. The forty-nine murderesses were condemned in the underworld to fill leaking jars with water for eternity — the punishment of the Danaids that became proverbial for futile labour.
Parents
Belus
Children
The fifty sons (Aigyptids)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The name Egypt itself was believed by the ancient Greeks to derive from this mythological king, the twin brother of Danaus
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Danaus
🗡 heromurder
Egyptian-born king of Argos whose fifty daughters murdered their fifty husbands on their wedding night — all except one.
Lynceus of Argos
🗡 heroSight, Survival, Revenge
Danaid husband with supernaturally sharp sight, sole male survivor of the massacre of the fifty sons of Aegyptus.
Pandion
🗡 herokingship
King of Athens who married off his daughters Procne and Philomela, both of whom suffered terribly at the hands of Tereus.
Proetus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Tiryns who quarrelled with his twin brother Acrisius over the throne of Argos, an enmity that began in the womb and persisted throughout their lives
Megara
🗡 heroNone recorded
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness
Oenomaus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Pisa who killed the suitors of his daughter Hippodamia in rigged chariot races until Pelops defeated him through trickery and divine favour
Leucippus of Messene
🗡 heroFatherhood, Daughters, Spartan Rivalry
Messenian king whose daughters Hilaeira and Phoebe were carried off by Castor and Polydeuces.
Priam
🗡 heroKing of Troy
Priam was the aged king of Troy, father of fifty sons including Hector and Paris, whose night journey to beg Achilles for Hector's body is the Iliad's most moving scene.
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Icarius
🗡 heroNone recorded
A legendary king of Sparta and father of Penelope who tried to prevent his daughter from leaving with Odysseus after her marriage
Neleus
🗡 herokingship
Son of Poseidon and Tyro, founder of Pylos, father of Nestor, killed by Heracles for refusing purification.
Aloeus
🗡 heroFarming, Giant-Fathers, Hubris
Thessalian king whose twin stepsons the Aloadae nearly defeated the Olympian gods.