Danaus

n. type of monarch butterflies (Zoology); (Greek Mythology) ruler of Argos who had 50 daughters (whom he ordered to kill their husbands on their wedding night)

For the butterfly genus, see Danaus (genus). Danaus, or Danaos ("sleeper") was a Greek mythological character, twin brother of Aegyptus son of Achiroe and Belus, a mythical king of Egypt. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend (or re-foundation legend) of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's Iliad, "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and "Argives" commonly designate the Greek forces opposed to the Trojans.
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Noun
1. type genus of the Danaidae: monarch butterflies
(synonym) genus Danaus
(hypernym) arthropod genus
(member-holonym) Danaidae, family Danaidae
(member-meronym) monarch, monarch butterfly, milkweed butterfly, Danaus plexippus

n. Danaus, ruler of Argos who had 50 daughters (whom he ordered to kill their husbands) (Greek Mythology)

[Greek] The son of king Belus of Egypt, according to legend Danaus and his brother Aegyptus had 100 children, Danaus 50 girls (the Danaides, "daughters of Danaus" ) and Aegyptus 50 boys. When all the children had grown into adulthood Aegyptus demanded that all his sons should marry the daughters of Danaus, refusing such a request, Danaus and his daughters fled to the Greek city of Argos, in the northeastern Peloponnese. Aegyptus and his 50 sons pursued them in a hostile manner, and when they arrived in Argos they were in a frenzied mood. Danaus, not wanting them to harm the Argives, consented to the mass wedding, but in reality, hateful of the whole idea. On the day of the wedding Danaus spoke to each of his daughters, and instructed them all to kill whoever they took for their husband, the plan was to murder them in the wedding bed. All but one successfully killed the cousin they married. The exception was Hypermnestra, which when translated can mean "special intent" or "excessive wooin...
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