In Greek mythology, Danaë (Ancient Greek Δανάη) was an Argive princess, daughter of Acrisius, and the mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. Imprisoned in a bronze chamber after an oracle foretold that her son would kill her father, she was visited by Zeus as a shower of gold; later cast adrift with the infant Perseus, she landed on Seriphos, where Dictys sheltered them. She was also credited in some Roman lore with founding Ardea in Latium.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Danaë" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Danaë was the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos (and, in standard stemmata, of Eurydice or Aganippe). By Zeus she was the mother of Perseus. Apollodorus records an alternative scandal in which her uncle Proetus is named as Perseus's father — a tradition tied to the feud between the twin brothers Acrisius and Proetus. Through Perseus she is ancestress of the Perseids, including Heracles' mother Alcmene.
II.Mythology
An oracle warned Acrisius that a son of Danaë would kill him. He locked her in a bronze chamber (underground or tower-like in later retellings). Zeus entered as a shower of gold and conceived Perseus. When the child was discovered, Acrisius set mother and infant adrift in a wooden chest; they washed ashore on Seriphos and were taken in by the fisherman Dictys.
Polydectes, king of Seriphos and Dictys's brother, later desired Danaë and sent Perseus after Medusa's head as a deadly errand. Perseus returned successful, rescued his mother from an unwanted marriage, and eventually fulfilled the oracle by accidentally killing Acrisius. Danaë accompanied Perseus's fortunes through Seriphos and Argos; Virgil and other Roman authors connect her with the founding of Ardea.
The golden-shower episode is among the most painted myths of the Western tradition (from Pompeian frescoes to Titian and beyond), always referring to this Argive mother of Perseus.
III.Namesakes
The atlas id danae is the Argive mother of Perseus. Modern uses of the name (ships, asteroids, titles of artworks) commemorate the mythic figure; they are not separate identities in this entry.