In Greek mythology, Lynceus was a descendant of Belus through Aegyptus, twin brother
of Danaus, who had fifty daughters, the Danaides, while Aegyptus
had fifty sons including Lynceus. Aegyptus commanded that his sons marry the Danaides and Danaus fled to Argos, ruled by King Pelasgus with his daughters. When Aegyptus and his sons
arrived to take the Danaides, Danaus gave them to spare the Argives the pain of a battle. However, he instructed his daughters to
kill their husbands on their wedding night. Forty-nine followed through, but one, Hypermnestra refused because her husband, Lynceus, honored her wish to remain a virgin. Danaus was angry
with his disobedient daughter and threw her to the Argive courts. Aphrodite intervened and
saved her. Lynceus later killed Danaus as revenge for the death of his brothers. Lynceus and Hypermnestra then began a dynasty of
Argive kings (the Danaan Dynasty) beginning with Abas. In some versions of the
legend, the Danaides were punished in the underworld by being forced to carry water through a jug with holes, or a sieve, so the
water always leaked out.
Apollodorus, Bibliotheke
I, viii, 2 and ix, 16; III, x, 3 and ix,2; Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica I, 151-55; Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII, 304.
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