Danae

Danai was the son of the Egyptian king Bel and Ankhinoi , daughter of the river god Nile. According to his father, he was the grandson of Epaphus , the son of Zeus from Io , and thus came from the first kings of Argos . Danai was born with his twin brother Egipt ^[1] ; his uncle was Agenor , a cousin - the founder of the Seven-Gate Thebes Cadmus , a cousin - Europe ^[2] .

There is an alternative (presumably older) genealogy according to which Danai and Egipt were the sons of Io and not great-grandchildren ^[3] .

Danai became king of Libya , while Egypt ruled over Arabia . After Bel’s death, strife broke out between the brothers. Egipt suggested that his brother reconcile fifty of his sons with his fifty daughters, as a sign of reconciliation, but Danai learned from divination that he would fall at the hands of his own son-in-law (according to another version, at the hands of his nephew) ^[4] . Then, on the advice of Athena, he built a 50-oar ship with two noses ^[5] and fled with his daughters ^{[6] [1]} . The First Vatican Mythographer reports that the ship was called Argo at its destination ^[7] , but this name was apparently borrowed from the story of the Argonauts ^[8] .

On the way Danai made a stop at Rhodes . Three of his daughters died from pestilence; in memory of them Danai founded three cities ( Lind , Jalis and Camir ). Having built the sanctuary of Athena and dedicated a statue to this goddess, he went further ^[9] , to Argolis , and landed on the shore in the place that has since been called Apobatma (“Landing”) ^[10] . Danai announced to the locals that the gods had elected him king of Argos. Gelanor , who ruled then in this city, laughed him. The Argivians nevertheless gathered to discuss this issue, but postponed the decision until the morning; and at night a wolf came down from the hills to the city wall and killed the bull that led the city herd. The Argivians understood this as a sign of the gods that the alien would seize power by force, if not to accept it, and persuaded Gelanor to renounce. So Danai became king of Argos ^{[11] [12]} .

Being sure that Apollo helped him in the image of a wolf, Danai built the temple of Apollo Lycian (“Wolf”); at the time of Pausanias , the throne of Danae still stood in this temple ^[13] . The new king also built the temple of Athena ^[14] and the city citadel, taught the inhabitants of the previously waterless Argos to dig wells, sent his daughters around the district in search of sources of water. According to one version of the myth, Danaid Amimon during this search became Poseidon's lover, and he, having hit a trident in the rock, opened the way for the stream, which became the source of the Lerna River. Danai became such a powerful king that all the Pelasgians of Greece from this time called themselves Danians ^[15] .

Meanwhile, fifty Egiptiads (sons of Egiptus) arrived in Argolis, who demanded that their uncle arrange their wedding with the Danaids, and secretly wanted to kill both Danae and his daughters on their wedding night. When they were refused, they besieged Argos, and the defenders eventually had to surrender because there was no water in the city wells. Danae organized marriage couples; in most cases, he simply cast lots, and sometimes was guided by the similarity of the names of the hypothetical bride and groom or the similarity of the social statuses of their mothers. “Not believing their friendly assurances and at the same time harboring anger in his heart, for he had not forgotten his flight” ^[16] , Danai decided to crack down on his nephews. During a wedding feast, he gave daughters daggers or sharp pins that they hid in hairstyles; at midnight, when the couple parted in their chambers, the Danaids killed their grooms. The heads of the Egiptiads were buried on the banks of Lerna, and the bodies near the walls of Argos ^[17] .

One of Danaid, Hypermnestra , disobeyed her father and did not kill her fiancé, Linkey . Danae wanted to execute her, but the Argos judges passed a verdict of not guilty. After that, the rest of the Danaids underwent a ritual of purification in the waters of Lake Lernei, and the father decided on the same day to marry them again. To do this, he organized competitions in running: applicants received the right, without wedding gifts, to choose the bride in the order in which they ran to the finish line. There were only a few potential suitors, since few wanted to marry a murderer ^[18] . But the next day, when it turned out that the married Danaids did not kill their newly-married spouses, new applicants appeared, and Danai organized a second contest, as a result of which all his daughters got husbands ^[19] . According to Gigin , the wedding played was the first to sing songs ^[20] .

Danai was later killed by his nephew and son-in-law Linkey ^{[21] [22]} . He was buried in the center of the market square of Argos ^[23] .

Ancient authors associate serious cultural progress with the name Danae: this hero brought the alphabet to Greece, introduced the custom of singing songs at weddings, became one of the founders of the tradition of athletic competitions, solved the problem of water supply, built the first 50-row ship ^[3] . The story of Danae and his daughters formed the basis of the lost epic poem Danaids, from which Greek poets and playwrights of the classical era drew material. Tragedies under the same name were written by Frynykh , Aeschylus and Timesifei , and comedy by Aristophanes ^[24] . In addition, Phrynich created the tragedy “The Egyptians”, and Aeschylus devoted a whole tetralogy to this plot, which, in addition to “Danaid,” included another “Egyptians”, as well as the tragedy of the “ petitioner ” and the satire drama “Amimon”. The text of the “petitioners” (the first part of the cycle), which tells about the arrival of Danai and her daughters in Argolis, has been preserved ^[25] .

There is a hypothesis that Danai and Egypt are ancient royal titles ^[26] .

The most complete list of Danai’s wives, who gave birth to fifty daughters, is given by Pseudo-Apollodorus ^[3] : these are Europe, Elephantis, Hamadriad Atlantius and Phoebe, the "Ethiopian", Memphis, the naiad of Polikso, Pieria, Herce and Crino ^[16] . Ferekid also calls Melia; Hippostratus considers Europe to be the mother of all Danids ^[3] .

The lists of the Danes' daughters, who became the brides of the Egiptiads, have been preserved as part of Gigin's Myths and the Pseudo-Apollodorus's Mythological Library ^[27] . Gygin gives forty-three names ^[28] , and in place of seven more names he has gaps; in the list of Pseudo-Apollodorus fifty Danaid ^[16] . Amimon, who was not at that wedding, gave birth to a son, Navplius, from Poseidon ^[16] . Hypermnestr, sparing her husband, became the mother of Abant and the ancestor of many heroes , including Perseus and Heracles ^[29] .

Sources

1. Apollodorus. Mythological library (neopr.) . Site "History of Ancient Rome". Date of treatment April 7, 2018.
2. Guy Julius Gigin. Myths (neopr.) . Date of treatment April 7, 2018.
3. Diodorus of Sicily. Historical Library (Neopr.) . Date of treatment April 7, 2018.
4. Pausanias. Description of Hellas (neopr.) . Site "History of Ancient Rome". Date of treatment April 7, 2018.
5. The first Vatican mythographer (neopr.) . Site "History of Ancient Rome". Date of treatment April 7, 2018.
6. Strabo Geography . - M .: Ladomir, 1994 .-- 944 p.

Literature

1. Graves R. Myths of Ancient Greece. - Yekaterinburg: U-Factoria, 2005 .-- 1008 p. - ISBN 5-9709-0136-9 .
2. Myths of the peoples of the world. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1987. - T. 1. - 671 p.
3. Podzemskaya N. “The petitioners” // Aeschylus. Tragedy. - M .: Art, 1978. - S. 341.
4. Brandt J. Danaos // Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie. - 1886. - Bd. I. - Kol. 952-954.
5. Waser O. Danaides // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1901. - Bd. IV, 2. - Kol. 2087-2091.
6. Waser O. Danaos 1 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1901. - Bd. IV, 2. - Kol. 2094-2098.