Danaus [61426]

  General Notes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaus


Danaus, or Danaos ("sleeper" ; Greek <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%94%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%8C%CF%82>), was a Greek mythological character , twin brother of Aegyptus and son of Achiroe and Belus , a mythical king of Egypt . The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend (or re-foundation legend) of Argos , one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus . In Homer's Iliad , "Danaans " ("tribe of Danaus") and "Argives " commonly designate the Greek forces opposed to the Trojans .
Danaus had fifty daughters, the Danaides, twelve of whom were born to Polyxo and rest to Pieria and other women, and his twin brother, Aegyptus, had fifty sons. Aegyptus commanded that his sons marry the Danaides. Danaus elected to flee instead, and to that purpose, he built a ship, the first ship that ever was.
In it, he fled to Argos , to which he was connected by his descent from Io , the maiden wooed by Zeus and turned into a heifer and pursued by Hera until she found asylum in Egypt. Argos at the time was ruled by King Pelasgus , the eponym of all autochthonous inhabitants who had lived in Greece since the beginning, also called Gelanor (he who laughs). The Danaides ask Pelasgus for protection when they arrive, the event portrayed in The Suppliants by Aeschylus . Protection is granted after a vote by the Argives.

Danaus married.