Danaë - wikipedia Danaë For other uses, see Danaë ( disambiguation ). Danaë Ancient Boeotian bell - krater showing Zeus impregnating Danaë in the form of a shower of gold, circa 450 - 425 BC Personal Information Consort Zeus, Polydectes Children Perseus Parents Acrisius and Eurydice In Greek mythology, Danaë ( / ˈdæn. i. iː / or / ˈdæn. ə. iː /, as personal name also / dəˈnaɪ /, Greek : Δανάη Greek pronunciation : ( daˈna. ɛː ) Modern : ( ðaˈna. i ) ) was the daughter, and only child of King Acrisius of Argos and his wife Queen Eurydice. She was the mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. She was credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium during the Bronze Age. Mythology Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter 's son. At the time, Danae was childless and, meaning to keep her so, King Acrisius shut her up in a bronze chamber to be constructed under the court of his palace ( other versions say she was imprisoned in a tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or windows, just a sky - light as the source of light and air ). She was buried in this tomb, never to see the light again. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her womb. Soon after, their child Perseus was born. Unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods or the Furies by killing his offspring and grandchild, King Acrisius cast Danaë and Perseus into the sea in a wooden chest. The sea was calmed by Poseidon and, at the request of Zeus, the pair survived. They were washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by Dictys -- the brother of King Polydectes -- who raised Perseus to manhood. The King was charmed by Danaë, but she had no interest in him. Consequently, he agreed not to marry her only if her son would bring him the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Using Athena 's shield, Hermes 's winged sandals and Hades ' helmet of invisibility, Perseus was able to evade Medusa 's gaze and decapitate her. Later, after Perseus brought back Medusa 's head and rescued Andromeda, the oracle 's prophecy came true. He started for Argos, but learning of the prophecy, instead went to Larissa, where athletic games were being held. By chance, an aging Acrisius was there and Perseus accidentally struck him on the head with his javelin ( or discus ), fulfilling the prophecy. Gallery Danaë in art Jan Gossaert, 1527 Correggio 's Danaë, 1531 -- 1532. One of several variants by Titian, 1544. Cupid is alongside Danaë. 120 cm × 172 cm. National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples Hendrick Goltzius, 1603 Artemisia Gentileschi, c. 1612 Danaë by Orazio Gentileschi, 1621 -- 23. Rembrandt 's Danaë, c. 1636. Jacob van Loo, 1650s Gustav Klimt 's Danaë, 1907. Genealogy Argive genealogy in Greek mythology Inachus Melia Zeus Io Phoroneus Epaphus Memphis Libya Poseidon Belus Achiroë Agenor Telephassa Danaus Pieria Aegyptus Cadmus Cilix Europa Phoenix Mantineus Hypermnestra Lynceus Harmonia Zeus Polydorus Sparta Lacedaemon Ocalea Abas Agave Sarpedon Rhadamanthus Autonoë Eurydice Acrisius Ino Minos Zeus Danaë Semele Zeus Perseus Dionysus Colour key : Male Female Deity See also Danaë ( disambiguation ) # Art Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke Danae - class cruiser The asteroid 61 Danaë, named after her Danae - Literary character from the Elenium and the Tamuli series by David Eddings References Jump up ^ Jones, Daniel ; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006. Sources Smith, William ; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London ( 1873 ). `` Danae '', Acri'sius External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danae. Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Danae. Warburg Institute Iconographic Database ( ca. 100 images of Danae ) GND : 11943542X Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title= Danaë&oldid = 798792708 '' Categories : Mortal women of Zeus Princesses in Greek mythology Abantiades Hidden categories : Pages using infobox deity with unknown parameters Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk About Wikipedia বাংলা Беларуская Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Latina Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Scots Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 3 September 2017, at 21 : 06. 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Question: who is danae in the story of gorgon's head
Answer: mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus