However, she is just one of many women in Greek mythology reported to have had an unusual encounter with Zeus. Danaë in ContextĪccording to myth, Danaë becomes pregnant after Zeus visits her in the form of a shower of gold. The original prophecy was fulfilled when Perseus accidentally killed Acrisius with a stray discus-a heavy disc thrown for sport-during some athletic games. According to some writers, she went on to found the city of Ardea in Italy. Dictys became king, and Danaë and Perseus returned to Argos. When Perseus returned, he saved Danaë by turning Polydectes to stone with the head of Medusa.
In any event, Danaë resisted Polydectes' advances. Some sources say that Danaë went into hiding during Perseus's absence, while others state that Polydectes locked her away. Believing that he could pressure Danaë into marrying him if her son were absent, Polydectes sent Perseus on a quest for the head of the gorgon Medusa, whose gaze could turn men into stone. When Perseus was grown, Polydectes fell in love with Danaë, but she did not love him in return. Dictys helped Danaë raise her son on the island. The chest reached the island of Seriphos, where it was discovered by a fisherman named Dictys (pronounced DIK-tis), whose brother Poly-dectes (pronounced pol-ee-DEK-teez) was king. When Acrisius learned of the baby's birth, he ordered Danaë and her son locked inside a chest and set adrift at sea. There the god Zeus, smitten by her beauty, went to her in a shower of gold, and she became pregnant with a son, the hero Perseus (pronounced PUR-see-uhs). To prevent the prediction from coming true, Acrisius had his daughter imprisoned in a bronze tower so she could not marry. An oracle, or person through which the gods communicated with humans, told Acrisius that Danaë's son would someday kill him. In Greek mythology, Danaë was the daughter of Acrisius (pronounced uh-KREE-see-us), the king of Argos.
Daughter of Acrisius and Eurydice Character Overview
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