Danaus
heroEgyptian-born king of Argos whose fifty daughters murdered their fifty husbands on their wedding night — all except one.
The Myth
Forty-nine women killed their husbands with daggers on their wedding night — and the one who refused became the ancestress of Heracles. Danaus fled Egypt with his fifty daughters to escape his brother Aegyptus, whose fifty sons demanded to marry the Danaids. Danaus agreed but gave each daughter a dagger with instructions to kill her husband on the wedding night. Forty-nine obeyed. Only Hypermnestra spared her husband Lynceus because he respected her virginity. In the Underworld, the forty-nine murderesses were condemned to fill leaky jars with water eternally. Hypermnestra's line produced Perseus, Heracles, and the Argive royal house. The myth gives the Greeks one of their oldest names — Danaans.
Parents
Belus
Children
The Danaids, Hypermnestra
Symbols
Fun Fact
Homer calls all Greeks Danaans — the name comes from Danaus, grandfather of the Argive line.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Danaids
heroThe fifty daughters of Danaus, forty-nine of whom murdered their husbands and were condemned to...
Hypermnestra
heroThe only one of the fifty Danaids who refused to murder her husband Lynceus on their wedding night.
Heracles
heroThe greatest hero of Greek mythology, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Famous for his...
Heracles (Labours)
heroHeracles performed twelve seemingly impossible labours as penance for killing his family in a...
Lynceus (Argonaut)
heroThe Argonaut with superhuman eyesight who could see through the earth and beneath the sea, serving...
Lynceus the Argonaut
heroArgonaut famed for supernatural eyesight so sharp he could see through solid earth and spot objects...
Perseus
heroThe legendary hero who slew the Gorgon Medusa and rescued Andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus...
Perseus (Hero)
heroPerseus was the demigod son of Zeus and Danaë who slew Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the...
Io (Transformation)
heroPriestess of Hera transformed into a white cow by Zeus (or Hera), driven across the world by a...
Argo (Ship)
placeThe Argo was the ship built by Argus for Jason's quest — the first long-voyage ship in Greek myth,...
Hera
godQueen of the Olympian gods and goddess of marriage. Known for her jealous rages against Zeus's...
Hera Teleia
godAn epithet of Hera as goddess of marriage and its fulfilment, worshipped as the divine model of the...