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

They will fall like a refreshing shower into a purse that is always as empty as the sieves of the Danaides.

From Prince Eugene and His Times by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)

There is a similar fragment of Aeschylus, Danaides, also quoted by Athenaeus.

From Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Long, George

The strange and weird legends of Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Prometheus, and the Danaides, have all one common feature about them.

From Practical Religion Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians by Ryle, John Charles

We seemed in those infernal regions to repeat the toil of the Danaides, and to be attempting to fill the leaky vessel of society by efforts which left it as empty as before.

From The Dangerous Classes of New York And Twenty Years' Work Among Them by Brace, Charles Loring

The fifty daughters of Danaus, known as "the Danaides," were punished in Hades for their crime by being compelled everlastingly to pour water into a sieve.

From The History of the Ten "Lost" Tribes Anglo-Israelism Examined by Baron, David