May 13: Family Month

Greek mythology has its fair share of dysfunctional families, but that of the Egyptian king Belus wins the trophy. His sons, Danaos and Aigyptos, hated each other from birth. Rivals in every aspect of their lives, they both got fifty children, but in the words of the 14th century writer Boccaccio: “They weren’t equally fortunate, because Aigyptos got fifty sons, while Danaos had fifty daughters.” When Aigyptos suggested that they should arrange for their children to marry each other, Danaos rather fled the country than let this happen. For this purpose, he litterally invented the boat. The nephews caught up with them though, and Danaos made it appear he agreed to the marriage. But he instructed his girls to unalive their husbands at the wedding night. All of them but one, did, and they were sent to the Tartaros for it. Their punishment consisted of endlessly trying to fill a leaking bath tub. While the couple that had decided to just get on with the marriage, Hypermnestra and Lynkaeus, lived happily ever after.

The Danaides kill their husbands, Robinet Testard,

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France

Le Tonneau des Danaïdes, Charles Guérin, private collection

Did you know...

• You can find the list of every Danaïd and her respective husband/victim in the "Fables" of the mythographer Hyginus.

• Salieri, rival of Mozart, composed the opera "Les Danaïdes"