Editing Danaus

{{short description|Greek mythological king}}
{{about|figure from Greek mythology|the butterfly genus|Danaus (butterfly)|the former cruise ship Danaos|CS Salamis Glory}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}}
[[File:History of Ancient painting in Hermitage - I (1).jpg|thumb]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Danaus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|eɪ|.|ə|s}},<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/danaus?s=t "Danaos"] ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|æ|n|i|.||ə|s}};<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 |orig-date=1990 |edition=new |isbn=978-0-582-36467-7 |page=199}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Δαναός}} ''Danaós'') was the king of [[Ancient Libya|Libya]]. His myth is a foundation legend of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], one of the foremost [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] cities of the [[Peloponnesus]]. In [[Homer|Homer's]] ''[[Iliad]]'', "[[Danaans]]" ("tribe of Danaus") and "[[Argives]]" commonly designate the Greek forces opposed to the [[Troy|Trojan]]s.

== Family ==
===Parents and siblings===
Danaus, was the son of King [[Belus (Egyptian)|Belus]] of [[Egypt]] and the [[naiad]] [[Achiroe]], daughter of the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river god]] [[Nilus (mythology)|Nilus]],<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.1.4&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.1.4]</ref> or of [[Side (mythology)|Sida]],<ref>[[John Malalas|Malalas]], [https://topostext.org/work/793#2.30 2.30]</ref> eponym of [[Sidon]]. He was the twin brother of [[Aegyptus]], king of [[Egypt]] while [[Euripides]] adds two others, [[Cepheus, King of Aethiopia|Cepheus]], King of [[Ethiopia]] and [[Phineus (son of Belus)|Phineus]], betrothed of [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]].

===Danaides===
Danaus had fifty daughters, the [[Daughters of Danaus|Danaides]], twelve of whom were born to the naiad [[Polyxo]]; six to [[Pieria (Greek mythology)|Pieria]]; two to [[Elephantis (mythology)|Elephantis]]; four to Queen [[Europa (Greek myth)|Europa]]; ten to the [[hamadryad]] [[Nymph|nymphs]] [[Atlanteia]] and [[Phoebe (mythology)|Phoebe]]; seven to an [[Aethiopia]]n woman; three to [[Memphis (mythology)|Memphis]]; two to Herse and lastly four to [[Crino]].<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.1.5&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.1.5]</ref> According to [[Hippostratos|Hippostratus]], Danaus had all these progenies begotten by Europa, the daughter of Nilus.<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades7.html 7.37, p. 370–371]</ref> In some accounts, Danaus married [[Melia (mythology)|Melia]] while Aegyptus consorted with [[Isaia (mythology)|Isaie]],<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], Notes on Book 3.1689</ref> these two women were daughters of their uncle [[Agenor]], King of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], and their possible sister, Damno who was described as the daughter of Belus.<ref>Gantz, p. 208; [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] fr. 21 Fowler 2000, p. 289 = ''[[FGrHist]]'' 3 F 21 = Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 3.1177-87 ff.</ref>

== Mythology ==

===Flight from Aegyptus===
[[File:Danaides by John William Waterhouse, 1903.jpg|thumb|200px|''The Danaides'' (1904), a [[Pre-Raphaelite]] interpretation by [[John William Waterhouse]]]]
After Aegyptus commanded that his fifty sons should marry the Danaides, Danaus elected to flee instead. To that purpose, he built a ship on the advice of [[Athena]],<ref name=":0">Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.1.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.1.4]</ref> the first ship that ever was.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Naturalis Historia]]'' 7.191 & 206</ref> In it, he fled to [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], to which he was connected by his descent from [[Io (mythology)|Io]], a priestess of Hera at Argos, who was wooed by [[Zeus]] and turned into a heifer and pursued by [[Hera]] until she found asylum in Egypt. Argos at the time was ruled by King [[Pelasgus]], the [[eponym]] of all autochthonous [indigenous] inhabitants who had lived in Greece since the beginning, also called [[Gelanor]] ("he who laughs"). The Danaides asked Pelasgus for protection when they arrived, the event portrayed in ''[[The Suppliants (Aeschylus)|The Suppliants]]'' by [[Aeschylus]]. Protection was granted after a vote by the Argives.  

When [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] visited Argos in the 2nd century CE, he related the succession of Danaus to the throne, judged by the Argives, who "from the earliest times ... have loved freedom and self-government, and they limited to the utmost the authority of their kings": 

: "On coming to Argos he claimed the kingdom against Gelanor, the son of [[Sthenelus]]. Many plausible arguments were brought forward by both parties, and those of Sthenelas were considered as fair as those of his opponent; so the people, who were sitting in judgment, put off, they say, the decision to the following day. At dawn a wolf fell upon a herd of oxen that was pasturing before the wall, and attacked and fought with the bull that was the leader of the herd. It occurred to the Argives that Gelanor was like the bull and Danaus like the wolf, for as the wolf will not live with men, so Danaus up to that time had not lived with them. It was because the wolf overcame the bull that Danaus won the kingdom. Accordingly, believing that Apollo had brought the wolf on the herd, he founded a sanctuary of Apollo Lycius."<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.19.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.19.3]-[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.19.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 4]</ref>

The sanctuary of Apollo Lykeios ("wolf-Apollo", but also Apollo of the twilight) was still the most prominent feature of Argos in Pausanias' time: in the sanctuary, the tourist might see the throne of Danaus himself, an [[eternal flame]], called the fire of [[Phoroneus]].

===Murdered bridegrooms===
[[Image:Danaïdes tuant leurs maris BnF Français 874 fol. 170v.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Danaides kill their husbands, miniature by [[Robinet Testard]].]]
When Aegyptus and his fifty sons arrived to take the Danaides, Danaus gave them in order to spare the [[Argives]] the pain of a battle. However, he instructed his daughters to kill their husbands on their wedding night. Forty-nine followed through and subsequently buried the heads of their bridegrooms in [[Lerna]];<ref>The [[Helladic]] site at Lerna is related in myth to the pool of the [[Lernaean hydra]]; compare the heads ritually buried in marshlands in northern Europe: see [[Bog body]].</ref> but one, [[Hypermnestra]], refused because her husband, [[Lynceus]], honored her wish to remain a virgin. Danaus was angry with his disobedient daughter and threw her to the Argive courts. [[Aphrodite]] intervened and saved her. Lynceus and Hypermnestra then began a dynasty of Argive kings (the [[List of kings of Argos#Danaid Dynasty|Danaid Dynasty]]).<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.1.5&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.1.5]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#168 168]; Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.19.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.19.6] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.20.7&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 2.20.7]</ref> Some sources relate that [[Amymone]], the "blameless" Danaid,<ref>Scholia on [[Pindar]], ''Pythian Ode'' 9.200</ref> and/or Bryce (Bebryce)<ref>[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] on [[Dionysius Periegetes]], 805</ref> also spared their husbands.

===Aftermath===
After his sons' deaths, Aegyptus escaped to Aroe in Greece and died there. His monument was shown in the temple of [[Serapis]] at [[Patrae]].<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+7.21.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 7.21.13]</ref>

In some versions, Lynceus later killed Danaus as revenge for the death of his brothers.

The remaining forty-nine Danaides had their grooms chosen by a common mythic competition: A foot-race was held, and the order in which the potential Argive grooms finished decided their brides (compare the myth of [[Atalanta]]). Two of the grooms were [[Archander]] and [[Architeles]], sons of [[Achaeus (son of Xuthus)|Achaeus]]: They married [[Scaea]] and Automate, respectively.<ref>Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 9.117; Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+7.1.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=0:chapter=0&highlight=Danaus 7.1.6]</ref>

In later accounts, the Danaides were punished in [[Tartarus]] by being forced to carry water in a jug to fill a bath without a bottom (or with a leak) and thereby wash off their sins, but the bath was never filled because the water was always leaking out.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', 4. 462; ''[[Heroides]]'' 14; [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]] on [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 10.497</ref><ref>The Danish government's third world aid agency's name was changed from DANAID to [[DANIDA]] in the last minute when this unfortunate connotation was discovered.</ref>

===Danaus in Rhodes===
Another account of the travels of Danaus gave him three daughters, [[Ialysos (mythology)|Ialysos]], [[Kamiros]] and [[Lindos]], who were worshipped in the cities that took their names in the island of [[Rhodes]], Ialysos, Kamiros and Lindos (but see also [[Cercaphus]]). According to Rhodian mythographers who informed [[Diodorus Siculus]],<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], 5.58; [[Strabo]], 14.2.6</ref> Danaus would have stopped and founded a sanctuary to Athena Lindia on the way from Egypt to [[Greece]].<ref name=":0" /> [[Herodotus]] heard that Danaus' daughters founded the temple at Lindos.<ref>[[Herodotus]], 2.182</ref> [[Ken Dowden]] observes<ref>Dowden, ''The Uses of Greek Mythology'' 1992:64</ref> that once the idea is dismissed that myth is directly narrating the movements of historical persons, that the loci of Danaian institutions at Lindos in Rhodes as well as at Argos suggest a Mycenaean colony sent to Rhodes from the Argolid, a tradition, in fact, that [[Strabo]] reports.

=== Other feats ===
Danaus was credited as the inventor of wells and is said to have migrated from Egypt about 1485 B.C. into that part of Greece previously known as Argos Dipsion. Notes in [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny the Elder's]], ''[[Natural History (encyclopedia)|Natural History]]'' also added that:

: "He [i.e., Danaus] may have introduced wells into Greece, but they had, long before his time, been employed in Egypt and in other countries. The term "Dipsion," "thirsting," which it appears had been applied to the district of Argos, may seem to render it probable, that, before the arrival of Danaus, the inhabitants had not adopted any artificial means of supplying themselves with water. But this country, we are told, is naturally well supplied with water."

The town [[Apobathmi ]] in [[ancient Argolis]] took its name from Danaus landing at this spot.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D11%3Aentry%3Dapobathmi-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Apobathmi]</ref>

==The ''Danais''==
The [[Epic poetry|epic]] '''''Danais'''''<ref>''Danais'' is also a genus of butterfly, lepidopterists being prone to supplying classical names for butterflies.</ref> was written by one of the [[cyclic poets]]; the name of the author and the narration of these events does not survive,<ref> A later poet quoted two lines.</ref> but the Danaid tetralogy of [[Aeschylus]] undoubtedly draws upon its material. It is represented in the table of epics in the received canon on the very fragmentary "[[Tabula Iliaca|Borgia table]]"<ref>W. McLeod, "The "Epic Canon" of the Borgia Table: Hellenistic Lore or Roman Fraud?" ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' '''115''' (1985:161f).</ref> as "''Danaides"''.

A U.S. federal judge used the version of the legend in which the Danaides are forced to perform an impossible task as a simile for the judge's task of determining whether a case "arises under" the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States.<ref>For instance, Stone & Webster Engineering Corp. v. Isley, 690 F.2d 323, 328 n. 4 (2d Cir. 1982); NUI Corp. v. Kimmelman, 593 F.Supp. 1457, 1464 (D. N.J. 1984).</ref>

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

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
* [[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. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History''. Translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at the Lacus Curtius: Into the Roman World].
* Fowler, R. L. (2000), ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0198147404}}.
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* [[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|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.]
* [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', Brookes More. Boston. Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|The Natural History]].'' John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''[[Chiliades]]'', editor Gottlieb Kiessling, F.C.G. Vogel, 1826. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dG0GAAAAQAAJ Google Books]. (English translation: Book I by Ana Untila; Books II&ndash;IV, by Gary Berkowitz; Books V&ndash;VI by Konstantino Ramiotis; Books VII&ndash;VIII by Vasiliki Dogani; Books IX&ndash;X by Jonathan Alexander; Books XII&ndash;XIII by Nikolaos Giallousis. [https://archive.org/stream/TzetzesCHILIADES/Chiliades#page/n0/mode/1up Internet Archive]).

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Danaides}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Δαναός}}

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{{Succession box|
 title=[[King of Argos]]|
 before=[[Gelanor]]|
 after=[[Lynceus]]|
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[[Category:Kings of Argos]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Libyan characters in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Athena]]
[[Category:Rhodian mythology]]
[[Category:Denyen]]
[[Category:Kings of Libya]]
[[Category:Progenitors in Greek mythology]]