Danaides

American  

[duh-ney-i-deez] / dəˈneɪ ɪˌdiz /

Also Danaidae

plural noun

Classical Mythology.

1. the 50 daughters of Danaus, 49 of whom were condemned to pour water forever into a leaky vessel for having murdered their husbands.

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Danaides British  

/ ˌdænɪˈɪdɪən, dəˈneɪɪˌdiːz, ˌdænɪəˈdiːən /

plural noun

1. the fifty daughters of Danaüs. All but Hypermnestra murdered their bridegrooms and were punished in Hades by having to pour water perpetually into a jar with a hole in the bottom

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Other Word Forms

• Danaidean adjective

Example Sentences

This they apply as an emblem of endless and ineffectual labour, like the stone of Sisyphus, and the sieves of the Danaides.

From The History of Sumatra Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And Manners Of The Native Inhabitants by Marsden, William

These fair maidens were the Danaides, daughters of Danaus, who had pledged his fifty daughters to the fifty sons of his brother Ægyptus.

From Myths of Greece and Rome Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art by Guerber, H. A. (H?l?ne Adeline)

Theology is truly the vessel of the Danaides.

From The System of Nature, Volume 2 by Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'

Mrs. Smidgkin, Mrs. Smidgkin, are you aware that the rain pours outside like the tears of the Danaides on their wedding night?

From Semiramis and Other Plays Semiramis, Carlotta And The Poet by Dargan, Olive Tilford

The history of practical medicine had been like the story of the Danaides.

From Medical Essays, 1842-1882 by Holmes, Oliver Wendell