Editing Danaë

{{Short description|Figure in Greek mythology}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox deity
| type             = Greek
| name             = Danaë
| image            = File:Danae gold shower Louvre CA925.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = Ancient [[Boeotia]]n [[krater#Bell_krater|bell-krater]] showing [[Zeus]] impregnating Danaë in the form of a shower of gold, circa 450–425 BC
| god_of           = 
| abode            = 
| symbol           = 
| parents          = [[Acrisius]] and [[Eurydice of Argos|Eurydice]]
| siblings         = 
| consort          = [[Zeus]]
| children         = [[Perseus]]
| mount            = 
}}
[[File:VII.4.48 Pompeii. Room 14, west wall of cubiculum. Now in Naples Archaeological Museum, inventory number 9549..jpg|thumb|Eros pouring golden rain on Danaë, antique fresco in [[Pompeii]]]]

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Danaë''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|eɪ|.|i}},<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Daniel|editor-last1=Roach|editor-first1=Peter|editor-last2=Hartman|editor-first2=James|editor-last3=Setter|editor-first3=Jane|date=2006|title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary|edition=17th|location=|publisher=Cambridge UP|page=|isbn=}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|i|.|iː}};<ref>{{cite book |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/longman-pronunciation-dictionary/page/199/mode/2up |first=John C. |last= Wells |publisher=Longman |location=Harlow, England |year=2000 |origyear=1990 |edition=new |isbn=978-0-582-36467-7 |page=199}}</ref> {{Langx|grc|Δανάη|Danáē}}; {{IPA|grc|da.ná.ɛː|lang|link=yes}}, {{IPA|el|ðaˈna.i|label=Modern:}}) was an [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argive]] princess and mother of the hero [[Perseus]] by [[Zeus]]. She was credited with founding the city of [[Ardea (RM)|Ardea]] in [[Latium]] during the [[Bronze Age]].

== Family ==
Danae was the daughter and only child of King [[Acrisius]] of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] by his wife Queen [[Eurydice of Argos|Eurydice]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.2.2 2.2.2].</ref> or [[Aganippe]].<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#63 63]; [[Scholiast]] on [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.1091.</ref> In some accounts, she had a sister, [[Evarete]], wife of King [[Oenomaus]] of [[Pisa, Greece|Pisa]] and mother of [[Hippodamia (daughter of Oenomaus)|Hippodamia]].<ref>Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#84 84].</ref>

== Mythology ==
Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the [[oracle]] of Delphi if this would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter's son. At the time, Danaë was childless and, meaning to keep her so, King Acrisius shut her up in a bronze chamber to be constructed under the court of his palace (other versions say she was imprisoned in a tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or windows, just a small air vent as the source of light and air). She was buried in this tomb, with the intent that she be closed off from all others for the rest of her life. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her womb. Soon after, their child [[Perseus]] was born.

Unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods or the [[Erinyes|Furies]] by killing his offspring and grandchild, King Acrisius cast Danaë and Perseus into the sea in a wooden chest. The sea was calmed by [[Poseidon]] and, at the request of Zeus, the pair survived. They were washed ashore on the island of [[Seriphos]], where they were taken in by the fisherman [[Dictys]]—the brother of King [[Polydectes]]—who raised Perseus to manhood in the temple of Athena. The King was charmed by Danaë, but she had no interest in him. Consequently, he agreed not to marry her only if her son would bring him the head of the [[Gorgon]] [[Medusa]]. Using [[Athena]]'s shield, [[Hermes]]'s winged sandals and [[Hades]]'s helmet of invisibility, Perseus was able to evade Medusa's gaze and decapitate her.

Later, after Perseus brought back Medusa's head and rescued [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]] the princess of [[Aethiopia]], the oracle's prophecy came true. He started for Argos, but learning of the prophecy, instead went to [[Larissa]], where athletic games, [[Olympics]], were being held. By chance, an aging Acrisius was there and Perseus accidentally struck him on the head with his [[javelin]] (or [[discus]]), fulfilling the prophecy.

== Genealogy ==
{{Argive genealogy in Greek mythology}}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" caption="Danaë in art">
File:Danae (1527).JPG|[[Jan Gossaert]], 1527
File:Correggio 008.jpg|[[Correggio]]'s ''[[Danaë (Correggio painting)|Danaë]]'', 1531–1532.
File:Tizian 011.jpg|[[Danaë (Titian series)|One of several variants]] by [[Titian]], 1544. [[Cupid]] is alongside Danaë. 120&nbsp;cm × 172&nbsp;cm. [[National Museum of Capodimonte]], Naples
File:Hendrick Goltzius 022.jpg|[[Hendrick Goltzius]], 1603
File:Artemisia Gentileschi - Danaë.jpg|[[Artemisia Gentileschi]], c. 1612
File:Danaë.jpg|''Danaë'' by Orazio Gentileschi, 1621–23.
File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 026.jpg|[[Rembrandt]]'s [[Danaë (Rembrandt painting)|''Danaë'']], c. 1636.
File:Danaë and the Shower of Gold (Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller) - Nationalmuseum - 18771.tif|''Danaë receiving [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] in a Shower of Gold,'' by [[Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller]] (1787)
File:Danae by Van Loo.jpg|[[Jacob van Loo]], 1650s
File:Klimt, Danaë.jpg|[[Gustav Klimt]]'s ''[[Danaë (Klimt)|Danaë]]'', 1907.
</gallery>

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]]; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DD%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Ddanae-bio-1 "Danae"], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dacrisius-bio-1 Acri'sius]

==External links==
{{commons category|Danae}}
{{EB1911 poster|Danae}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000229 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Danae)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danae}}
[[Category:Abantiades (mythology)]]
[[Category:Denyen]]
[[Category:Mortal women of Zeus]]
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Serifos]]