Danaë is a princess of Argos, daughter of King Acrisius. Imprisoned by her father in a bronze chamber to prevent a prophecy, she is seduced by Zeus transformed into a shower of gold and gives birth to Perseus, the hero who will kill Medusa.
Danaë
Danaë
9 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Only daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, and Eurydice
- Imprisoned in an underground bronze chamber to thwart the oracle foretelling that she would bear the murderer of her father
- Seduced by Zeus metamorphosed into a shower of gold, she conceives Perseus
- Cast adrift at sea with her son in a chest, she washes ashore on the island of Seriphos
- Perseus fulfills the prophecy by accidentally killing Acrisius during games
Works & Achievements
One of the most beautiful fragments of ancient Greek lyric poetry: Danaë, in the chest at sea, sings a lullaby to the infant Perseus. This poem is considered a masterpiece of archaic Greek lyric.
Sophocles wrote a tragedy about Danaë, of which only fragments remain. It attests to the dramatic importance of the character in classical Athenian theater.
Titian painted at least six versions of the subject for the greatest courts of Europe (Farnese, Philip II of Spain). These paintings, showing Danaë reclining under the golden rain, are among the most famous works of the Italian Renaissance.
Rembrandt paints Danaë in a luminous moment of expectation, welcoming the divine light with an open-armed gesture. This painting, housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, was vandalized in 1985 and meticulously restored.
A symbolist and sensual version of the myth by Klimt, depicting Danaë asleep in a golden circular composition characteristic of his Art Nouveau style. The work perfectly illustrates the late 19th-century fascination with myths of divine fecundity.
The most complete mythographic text on Danaë and Perseus, compiling all versions of the Argive heroic myth. A reference source for historians and educators since the Renaissance.
Anecdotes
The oracle at Delphi predicted to King Acrisius of Argos that his own grandson would kill him. Terrified by this prophecy, he built an underground chamber lined with bronze and imprisoned his daughter Danaë there so she could never have a child. This decision perfectly illustrates the Greek belief that no one can escape their fate.
Zeus, struck by the beauty of the imprisoned Danaë, transformed himself into a shower of gold to seep through the roof of the tower and join the young woman. This divine metamorphosis gave birth to Perseus, one of the greatest Greek heroes — proving that no human wall can withstand the will of the gods.
When Acrisius discovered that Danaë had given birth to a son, he refused to believe that the father was Zeus. Rather than killing them directly — for fear of divine retribution — he had Danaë and the infant Perseus locked in a wooden chest (larnax) and thrown into the sea, leaving the waves to decide their fate.
The chest drifted to the island of Seriphos, where a fisherman named Dictys rescued them. His brother, King Polydectes, fell in love with Danaë and tried to force her to marry him. It was precisely to protect his mother that Perseus accepted the supposedly impossible mission of retrieving the head of Medusa.
The prophecy was fulfilled despite all of Acrisius's efforts to avoid it: during athletic games at Larissa, Perseus threw a discus that veered off course and accidentally struck an old man in the stands. That man was Acrisius himself, who had fled all the way to Thessaly to escape his fate.
Primary Sources
Danaë, carried by the wind in the deep night, on the sea with rustling waves, in a painted chest, was seized with anguish. She placed her hands around Perseus and said: 'O my child, what distress is mine! You sleep a sweet infant sleep…'
An oracle had foretold to Acrisius that he would die at the hand of Danaë's son. Fearing this oracle, Acrisius built a bronze chamber underground and imprisoned Danaë there. But Zeus, in love with her, united with her by turning into a shower of gold that poured through the roof.
Perseus, who cut off the head of the snake-haired Gorgon, born of Zeus and Danaë of the beautiful golden hair, fulfilling the divine oracle despite the wiles of mortals.
Inclusam Danaen turris aenea robustaeque fores et vigilum canum tristes excubiae munierant satis — The bronze tower, the oak doors, and the grim watch of vigilant dogs had well guarded imprisoned Danaë… if Jupiter had not mocked Acrisius.
Jupiter turned into a shower of gold to deceive Danaë, whose stern father had ordered her imprisonment in a bronze tower, thus seeking to defy the will of the immortal gods.
Key Places
Royal city where Danaë is a princess, daughter of King Acrisius. Here the bronze tower was built and the first part of the myth unfolds. Argos is one of the oldest cities in Greek mythology.
Aegean island where the chest carrying Danaë and Perseus washed ashore. Here Perseus grew up and Danaë was coveted by King Polydectes, before being freed by her victorious son.
Place where the fatal prophecy to Acrisius was delivered by the oracle of Apollo. Although Danaë is not present, it is the oracle of Delphi that sets off the entire chain of events of her destiny.
Greek city to which Acrisius fled to try to escape the prophecy. It was there that Perseus accidentally killed him during athletic games, fulfilling the foretold fate despite himself.
Maritime space over which the chest carrying Danaë and Perseus drifted. The sea, in this myth, plays the role of a passage between two lives: from the royal prison of Argos to the saving exile of Serifos.
