Danae
Princess of Argos imprisoned in a bronze tower, mother of Perseus by Zeus
The Legend of Danae
Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. An oracle warned Acrisius that his daughter's son would one day kill him, so he locked Danae in an underground bronze chamber to prevent her from bearing children. Zeus circumvented this by entering the chamber as a shower of golden light, and Danae conceived Perseus. When Acrisius discovered the child, he sealed mother and son in a wooden chest and cast them into the sea. They drifted to the island of Seriphos, where the fisherman Dictys rescued them. Danae raised Perseus there until King Polydectes began pursuing her. Perseus eventually returned to Argos, and at an athletic contest, a discus he threw went astray and killed Acrisius, fulfilling the oracle.
Children
Perseus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Artists from antiquity to Rembrandt have depicted the golden rain, making it one of myth's most painted scenes
Explore Further
Danaë
🗡 heroMother of Perseus, imprisoned in bronze
Danaë was a princess locked in a bronze tower by her father to prevent a prophecy — but Zeus came to her as a shower of golden rain, and she bore Perseus.
Jocasta
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Thebes who unknowingly married her own son Oedipus after his return
Acrisius
🗡 herofate
King of Argos who imprisoned his daughter Danae and was killed by his grandson Perseus with a discus, fulfilling the oracle he tried to escape.
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Anticleia
🗡 heroNone recorded
The mother of Odysseus who died of grief during her son's long absence at Troy, appearing to him as a shade when he visited the underworld
Agraulos
🗡 heroNone recorded
A daughter of Cecrops, the first king of Athens, who disobeyed Athena by opening a forbidden chest and was driven to leap from the Acropolis
Cepheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Aethiopia who nearly sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to a sea monster
Hypsipyle
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Lemnos who saved her father when the women of the island murdered every other man, later becoming the lover of Jason during the Argonauts' voyage
Chrysippus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A son of Pelops whose abduction by Laius of Thebes brought a curse upon the house of Laius and introduced the theme of transgression that haunted the Oedipus cycle
Aleus
🗡 heroKingship, Arcadia
King of Tegea in Arcadia and founder of the great temple of Athena Alea
Anticlea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Mother of Odysseus who died of grief during his absence and appeared to him in the Underworld