Hypermnestra ( grc, Ὑπερμνήστρα, ''Hypermnēstra''), in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, was a

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

princess as one of the 50 Danaids the daughter of King Danaus, son of King Belus of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Her mother was

Elephantis Elephantis ( grc, Ἐλεφαντίς) (fl. late 1st century BC) was a Greek poet and physician apparently renowned in the classical world as the author of a notorious sex manual. Due to the popularity of courtesans taking animal names in classi ...

and full sister to

Gorgophone In Greek mythology, Gorgophone ( grc, Γοργοφόνη "Gorgon-Slayer") was the name of two different women. * Gorgophone, daughter of Perseus. * Gorgophone, a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaïdes. She married and murdered Proteus, son of ...

Mythology

Hypermnestra's father, Danaus was the twin brother of Aegyptus who demanded the marriage of the Danaids and his 50 sons. But her father Danaus who was unhappy with this kind of arrangement, decided they should flee to

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

where King

Pelasgus In Greek mythology, Pelasgus ( grc, Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'' means "ancient") was the eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgians, the mythical inhabitants of Greece who established the worship of the Dodonaean Zeus, Hephaestus, the Cabeiri, and o ...

(

Gelanor In Greek mythology, King Gelanor ( grc, Γελάνωρ) of Argos, was the son and successor of Sthenelus. His real name was possibly Pelasgus, as Robert Graves has proposed that the name "Gelanor" is a literary device meaning 'laughter': he was s ...

) ruled. When Aegyptus and his sons arrived to take the Danaides, Danaus gave them to spare the Argives the pain of a battle. However, Danaus instructed Hypermnestra and the other Danaids to kill their husbands on their wedding night. Her forty-nine sisters followed through except her because her husband,

Lynceus In Greek mythology, Lynceus (; grc, Λυγκεύς, Lynkeús, lynx-eyed) was a king of Argos, succeeding Danaus on the throne. Family Lynceus was named as a descendant of Belus through his father Aegyptus, who was the twin brother of Danaus, ...

, honored her wish to remain a virgin. Danaus was angry with this disobedience and threw her to the Argive courts.

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

intervened and saved Hypermnestra. Lynceus later killed Danaus as revenge for the death of his brothers. Hypermnestra and Lynceus' son, Abas, would be the first king of the Danaid Dynasty. In some versions of the legend, the Danaides were punished in the underworld by being forced to carry water through a jug with holes, or a sieve, so the water always leaked out. Hypermnestra, however, went straight to Elysium.

Argive genealogy

Cultural depictions

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

wrote a letter from Hypermnestra to Lynceus which appears in his ''

Heroides The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroine ...

''. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a ''Legend of Hypermnestra''.A Curious Error?: Geoffrey Chaucer’s Legend of Hypermnestra, The Chaucer Review, Vol 36, Number 1, 2001, accessed 2 May 2013
/ref> Francesco Cavalli wrote ''

Hipermestra ''Hipermestra'' is an opera in a prologue and 3 acts by Francesco Cavalli - more specifically, it is a '' festa teatrale''. The opera was set to a libretto by G. A. Moniglia, and was first performed at Florence on 12 June 1658. The plot is based ...

'', first performed at Florence on 12 June 1658, as a festa teatrale opera. Charles-Hubert Gervais composed the opera ''

Hypermnestre ''Hypermnestre'' (''Hypermnestra'') is an opera by the French composer Charles-Hubert Gervais, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 3 November 1716. It takes the form of a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue ...

'', first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 3 November 1716.

Ignaz Holzbauer Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer (18 September 1711 – 7 April 1783) was an Austrian composer of symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music, and a member of the Mannheim school. His aesthetic style is in line with that of the ''Sturm und Drang'' "m ...

composed a German opera entitled ''Hypermnestra'' with a German libretto by Johann Leopold van Ghelen that was performed in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1741.

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

composed the opera ''

Les Danaïdes ''Les Danaïdes'' is an opera by Antonio Salieri, in five acts: more specifically, it is a ''tragédie lyrique''. The opera was set to a libretto by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and Louis-Théodore de Tschudi, who in turn adapted t ...

'' with a French libretto by

François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet (10 April 1716 in Normanville – 2 August 1786 in Paris) was a French diplomat and playwright. He is chiefly remembered today as the librettist of Gluck's operas ''Iphigénie en Aulide ''Iphigénie en ...

and Louis-Théodore de Tschudi in 1784, premiering in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Notes

References

, ''

'' 14. *Eusebuis, ''Chronicon'' 46.8-12, 47.22-23. *Orosius, ''Historiae adversus paganos'' I.ii.i. *Lactantius Placidus, ''Commentarii in Statii Thebaida'' II.222. {{Authority control Danaids Queens in Greek mythology Princesses in Greek mythology

Mythology

Argive genealogy

Cultural depictions

See also

Notes

References