The son of Zeus and Io, Epaphus, had a son Bel, and he had two sons - Egypt and Danaus. The entire country, which is irrigated by the fertile Nile, was owned by Egypt, from which this country received its name. Danau ruled in Libya. The gods gave Egypt fifty sons. I give fifty beautiful daughters. The Danaids captivated the sons of Egypt with their beauty, and they wanted to marry beautiful girls, but Danai and the Danaids refused them. The sons of Egypt gathered a large army and went to war against Danae. Danaus was defeated by his nephews, and he had to lose his kingdom and flee. With the help of the goddess Pallas Athena, Danai built the first fifty-oared ship and set sail on it with his daughters into the endless, ever-noisy sea.
Danae's ship sailed for a long time on the sea waves and finally sailed to the island of Rhodes. Here Danaus stopped; he went ashore with his daughters, founded a sanctuary to his patron goddess Athena and made rich sacrifices to her. Danaus did not stay in Rhodes. Fearing the persecution of the sons of Egypt, he sailed with his daughters further to the shores of Greece, to Argolis - the homeland of his ancestor Io. Zeus himself guarded the ship during its dangerous voyage across the boundless sea. After a long journey, the ship landed on the fertile shores of Argolis. Here Danai and the Danaids hoped to find protection and salvation from their hated marriage with the sons of Egypt.
Under the guise of begging for protection, with olive branches in their hands, the Danaids came ashore. No one was visible on the shore. Finally, a cloud of dust appeared in the distance. It was approaching quickly. Now in the cloud of dust you can see the sparkle of shields, helmets and spears. The noise of the wheels of war chariots can be heard. This is the approaching army of the king of Argolis, Pelasgus, son of Palekhton. Notified of the ship's arrival, Pelasgus came to the seashore with his army. He did not meet an enemy there, but the elder Danae and his fifty beautiful daughters. They met him with branches in their hands, praying for protection. Stretching out their hands to him, with eyes full of tears, his beautiful daughters Danae beg to help them against the proud sons of Egypt. In the name of Zeus, the mighty protector of those who pray, the Danaids of Pelasgus conjure not to hand them over. After all, they are not strangers in Argolis - this is the homeland of their ancestor Io.
Pelasgus still hesitates - he is afraid of the war with the mighty rulers of Egypt. What should he do? But he is even more afraid of the wrath of Zeus if, by violating his laws, he pushes away those who pray to him in the name of the Thunderer for protection. Finally, Pelasgus advises Danaus to go to Argos himself and there put olive branches on the altar of the gods as a sign of a plea for protection. He himself decides to gather the people and ask their advice. Pelasgus promises the Danaids to make every effort to convince the citizens of Argos to protect them.
Pelasgus leaves. The Danaids await the decision of the national assembly with trepidation. They know how indomitable the sons of Egypt are, how formidable they are in battle; they know what threatens them if the Egyptian ships land on the shores of Argolis. What should they, defenseless virgins, do if the inhabitants of Argos deprive them of shelter and help? Misfortune is near. The messenger of the sons of Egypt has already come. He threatens to take the Danae to the ship by force, he grabbed one of Danae’s daughters by the hand and orders his slaves to grab the others as well. But here King Pelasgus appears again. He takes the Danaids under his protection, and he is not afraid that the messenger of the sons of Egypt threatens him with war.
Death brought Pelasgus and the inhabitants of Argolis the decision to protect Danaus and his daughters. Defeated in a bloody battle, Pelasgus was forced to flee to the very north of his vast possessions. True, Danaus was elected king of Argos, but in order to buy peace from the sons of Egypt, he still had to give them his beautiful daughters as wives.
The sons of Egypt celebrated their wedding with the Danaids magnificently. They did not know what fate this marriage would bring them. The noisy wedding feast ended; the wedding hymns fell silent, the wedding torches went out; the darkness of the night enveloped Argos. Deep silence reigned in the sleepy city. Suddenly, in the silence, a heavy dying groan was heard, here is another one, another and another. The terrible atrocity was committed by the Danaids under the cover of darkness. With the daggers given to them by their father Danai, they pierced their husbands as soon as sleep closed their eyes. Thus the sons of Egypt died a terrible death. Only one of them, the beautiful Lynceus, was saved. Danae's young daughter, Hypermnestra, took pity on him. She was unable to pierce her husband's chest with a dagger. She woke him up and secretly took him out of the palace.
Danaus became furious when he learned that Hypermnestra had disobeyed his command. Danaus put his daughter in heavy chains and threw him into prison. The court of elders of Argos gathered to judge Hypermnestra for disobedience to her father. Danaus wanted to put his daughter to death. But the goddess of love herself, golden Aphrodite, appeared at the trial. She protected Hypermnestra and saved her from cruel execution. The compassionate, loving daughter of Danae became the wife of Lynceus. The gods blessed this marriage with numerous offspring of great heroes. Hercules himself, the immortal hero of Greece, belonged to the family of Lynceus.
Zeus did not want the other Danaids to die either. At the command of Zeus, Athena and Hermes cleansed the Danaids from the filth of the shed blood. King Danai organized great games in honor of the Olympian gods. The winners of these games received Danae's daughters as wives as a reward.
But the Danaids still did not escape punishment for the crime committed. They carry it after their death in the dark kingdom of Hades. The Danaids must fill a huge vessel with water that has no bottom. They carry water forever, scooping it up from an underground river and pouring it into a vessel. It seems that the vessel is already full, but water flows out of it, and again it is empty. The Danaids get to work again, again carry water and pour it into a vessel without a bottom. So their fruitless work continues endlessly.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru