DANAE

Danae was a Greek princess who was imprisoned by her father, Acrisius, to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy that she would give birth to a son who would kill him. However, because of divine intervention by the god Zeus, who visited Danae in her prison, Acrisius’s actions were in vain.

Danae was the daughter of Eurydice and Acrisius, king of Argos, a city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Acrisius tried to kill Danae and her son in order to save himself. The story began when Acrisius was told a terrible prophecy about his young daughter. The Delphic oracle foretold that Danae would give birth to a son who would one day kill his grandfather. In an effort to prevent the omen from coming to pass, Acrisius immediately imprisoned his daughter in an underground chamber made of bronze with only a small aperture for light and air. Later accounts of the legend make Danae’s prison a bronze tower. The earliest work in which this version appears is Odes by Roman poet Horace (65—8 BCE).

Acrisius barred the doors and left poor Danae, his only child, with her nurse. No man could come in, and she could not go out. While Danae mourned the loss of her freedom, weeping in her lonely bedroom, the beautiful girl suddenly noticed a strange, sunny glow creeping through the window. She was afraid to move. Gradually the glow coalesced into a shower of gold, and then into the form of the god Zeus. He was attracted to the imprisoned girl and determined to be her lover. Danae naturally felt little loyalty to her father at this point and saw no reason why she should not have an affair with this handsome divinity. They spent many happy hours together, and at last Perseus, her son, was born.

Acrisius trembled with fear when he heard that, despite his efforts, Danae had given birth to a son. He refused to believe that Zeus was the father of his grandchild. Still determined to prevent the prophecy from coming true, he locked his daughter and grandson in a wooden chest and threw it into the sea. He hoped that this would be the end of them, but the chest was protected by Zeus. It drifted far out to sea before finally floating close to the island of Seriphos. Dictes, the brother of the local king Polydectes, was fishing in the sea that day and caught the chest in his nets. When he opened it, he was surprised to see a beautiful woman and an infant. Danae and Perseus, still alive, had found a new home.

Left: This painting, Danae and the Brazen Tower, is by English artist Edward Burne-Jones (1833—1898) of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Above: Danae, by Italian master Titian (c. 1489—1576), shows Zeus, disguised as a shower of gold, visiting the princess.

In later years Polydectes fell in love with Danae. Since she had a full-grown son, however, he felt embarrassed to court her. He pretended that he was in love with someone else and planned to be married. All the warriors of the kingdom were to bring him wedding gifts. Perseus, who by this time had grown into a strapping young hero, promised to bring him the head of the Gorgon Medusa, who could turn men to stone with just one look. Surely, Polydectes thought, Medusa would kill Perseus, and he would then be left to court Danae in peace without the jealous attentions of her son.

Perseus visited the Graeae, three blind, toothless witches, who told him where the Gorgon lived. He stole from them a helmet of invisibility, winged sandals, and other magical aids before proceeding on his quest. Perseus tracked down the Gorgon and slew her while she was asleep, taking care not to look at her directly, but only at her image reflected in a shield made of bronze. When he came home with Medusa’s hideous, snake-covered head, he found that Polydectes had been harassing his mother, Danae, and that she had taken refuge at the altars of the gods. Furious, he confronted the king, holding up the Gorgon’s head. Polydectes took one look at Medusa and turned to stone.

Perseus and Danae were finally free to leave Seriphos and return to Argos.

King Acrisius was still mindful of the oracle but was nevertheless glad to have an heir. He came to love Perseus and found it difficult to imagine him committing murder. However, one day at Larissa, a town on mainland Greece, the young man was hurling the discus at some funeral games held by the local king. Acrisius just happened to be in the way and was killed when the discus struck him in the head. The Delphic prophecy had been fulfilled.

Perseus chose not to take his grandfather’s throne, but became king of Tiryns and Mycenae, two great Bronze Age cities. His children included the mighty Heracles, thus making Danae the ancestor of one of the greatest Greek legendary heroes.