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Danaids |
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Danaids
in Greek mythology, the 50 daughters of Danaus, son of the Egyptian king Belus. In an attempt to escape the pursuit of the 50 sons of Aegyptus, the brother of Danaus. the Danaids and their father fled to Argos, where they were overtaken by Aegyptus’ sons who demanded that Danaus give his daughters to them in marriage. Bowing to force, Danaus agreed to the marriage of his daughters, but ordered them to kill their husbands on their wedding night. All of the Danaids except one, who became the progenitrix of the kings of Argos, carried out their father’s command. According to one version of the myth, the Daxiaids had to atone for their crime by eternally filling a bottomless jar with water in the underworld. This is the origin of the expressions “a Danaid jar” and “labor of the Danaids,” which signify useless and unending labor. Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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No references found | The sons of Aegyptus are represented in the play by a number of negative stereotypes: their blackness is emphasized and associated with death; they are savage and lustful, and, along with the Danaids, have no appreciation of the democratic institutions of Greece, expressing surprise, for example, that the king must consult a deliberative body of Greek citizens instead of simply acting on his own advice. And the fifty Danaids, who murdered their husbands, were condemned to draw water from a well and carry it some distance in a vain attempt to fill a cistern, for the buckets had holes in them, and all the water would leak out along the way. He stoically attended medical lectures, on his way to adding "one more obscure name to the lamentable catalogue of bad doctors" when, one evening, he heard Salieri's Danaids at the Paris Opera. |
Danaids |
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