Page:Greek and Roman Mythology.djvu/111

THE GREEK HEROES 97 127. Danaiis, the representative of the Dana'i dwelling in Argolis in the times of Homer, migrated to Greece with his daughters, the Danaides, according to the legend, and became king of Argos. The fifty sons of Aegyptus followed them and courted them, but, with the exception of Lynceus, whom his wife Hypermnestra spared, were all murdered by them on their wedding night at the com- mand of Danatis, a figurative description of the rivers of Argos (sons of the Aegyptus stream) becoming quite dry in summer through the drying up of the springs (Danaides). In punishment for this murder the Danaides were com- pelled in the lower world to draw water in a perforated vessel, an idea that is closely connected with their sig- nificance as fountain nymphs. 128. A descendant of Lynceus was Acrisius, king of Argos. Through an oracle he learned that he was to be killed by a grandson. Therefore he concealed his daugh- ter Danae in a brazen tower and kept her strictly guarded. Zeus, however, penetrated to her in the form of golden rain, and she became the mother of Perseus. Acrisius then shut both mother and child up in a chest and threw them into the sea. Simonides of Ceos, with delicate poetic appreciation of their fearful peril, describes the situation as follows : When, in the carven chest, The winds that blew and waves in wild unrest Smote her with fear, she, not with cheeks unwet, Her arms of love round Perseus set, And said : child, what grief is mine ! But thou dost slumber, and thy baby breast Is sunk in rest, Here in the cheerless brass-bound bark, Tossed amid starless night and pitchy dark. H