Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Scaea (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Σκαιήν means "left, on the left hand"), was one of the Danaids.

Family

Scaea was the daughter of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and " ...

, king of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

and of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, a queen. She was the full sister of other Danaids namely Automate,

Amymone In Greek mythology, Amymone (;Ancient Greek: Αμυμωνη means the "blameless" one) was a daughter of Danaus, king of Libya and Europe, a queen. As the "blameless" Danaid, her name identifies her as, perhaps, identical to Hypermnestra ("grea ...

and

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: ...

2.1.5
/ref> Scaea was married to

Daiphron In Greek mythology, Daiphron (Ancient Greek: Δαΐφρων means "warlike") may refer to the following Ancient Egypt, Egyptian brother-princes: * Daiphron, one of the Sons of Aegyptus, sons of King Aegyptus of Egypt. He suffered the same fate as h ...

, son of

Aegyptus In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of Achiroe, his mother ...

and later to Archander of whom she had begotten a son, Metanastes.

Mythology

Scaea like her other sisters, except

Hypermnestra Hypermnestra ( grc, Ὑπερμνήστρα, ''Hypermnēstra''), in Greek mythology, was a Libyan princess as one of the 50 Danaids the daughter of King Danaus, son of King Belus of Egypt. Her mother was Elephantis and full sister to Gorgophone. ...

, killed their husbands on their wedding night at the behest of their father Danaus. Because of the murder, later on, Scaea and her sisters were punished in afterlife, being forced to carry a jug to fill a bathtub (pithos) without a bottom (or with a leak) to wash their sins off. The water was always leaking that they would forever try to fill the tub. In some accounts, Scaea remarried Archander while her sister Automate took as husband his brother

Architeles Architeles ( grc, Ἀρχιτέλης) was the name of several people from ancient Greek mythology: * Architeles, father of Eunomus, whom Heracles killed by accident on his visit to Architeles. The father forgave Heracles, but Heracles nevertheles ...

. These two were sons of Achaeus, coming from

Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is border ...

to settle in

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 ...

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, 8.1.3

Notes

References

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Greek-myth-stub Princesses in Greek mythology