The method used for her disposal is particularly striking, for the larnax served as a coffin in the Minoan civilization, and was put out to sea with the corpse in it. The story is certainly archaic and was well known to Simonides who used it in a lyric poem about Danae’s lament when she is put out to sea. For Danae’s father Akrisios locks his daughter and new-born grandson into a larnax and puts them out to sea to die, out of fear of Perseos’ eventual power. Nevertheless her mingling with Zeus has nearly fatal consequences. She is not abducted by a god, as Marpessa is, but only raped. The full story about her is clearly assumed to be familiar to the reader. She is described simply as the mother of Perseos and as being καλλίσφυρος. Danae appears only in the context of her relationship with Zeus.
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