Lynceus

Lynceus was a son of Aegyptus and the only one of his fifty sons to survive the wedding night massacre by the Danaids, the fifty daughters of Danaus. He was spared by his wife Hypermnestra, later became king of Argos after Danaus, and was the father of Abas. His name means “lynx-eyed”.

Family and the Quarrel of Danaus and Aegyptus

Danaus and Aegyptus were twin sons of Belus. Danaus had fifty daughters and Aegyptus fifty sons. Lynceus and Proteus were borne to Aegyptus by Argyphia, a woman of royal blood (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.4–5). When the brothers quarrelled over the kingdom, Danaus feared the sons of Aegyptus and fled with his daughters in a ship, the first ever built, on the advice of Athena. He came to Argos, where the king Gelanor gave up the kingdom to him (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.4). In Aeschylus’ Suppliants the Argive king who receives the fugitives is Pelasgus (Aeschylus, Suppliants 250–251).

The Wedding Night

The sons of Aegyptus came to Argos and asked Danaus to lay aside his hatred and give them his daughters. Danaus did not trust them, but he agreed and shared the girls among them. Hypermnestra, the eldest, was chosen to be the wife of Lynceus. At the wedding feast Danaus gave each of his daughters a dagger, and they killed their husbands in their sleep, all but Hypermnestra, who saved Lynceus because he had respected her virginity (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.5). Pindar refers to her as the daughter who kept her sword sheathed (Pindar, Nemean 10).

Hypermnestra on Trial

Danaus shut Hypermnestra up under guard for disobeying him (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.5). Pausanias says that he brought her to trial because he thought his own life in danger while Lynceus lived, and that the Argives acquitted her. In memory of her escape she dedicated a statue of Aphrodite Nikephoros (Pausanias 2.19.6). The place of judgment was shown in Argos behind a stone head of Medusa near the sanctuary of Cephisus (Pausanias 2.20.7).

Lynceus escaped to Lyrcea, where he lit a beacon to tell Hypermnestra that he was safe, as they had agreed. She lit a beacon of her own on the Larisa, the citadel of Argos, and the Argives still held a yearly beacon festival (Pausanias 2.25.4). Apollodorus puts the end of the story differently: Danaus afterwards united Hypermnestra with Lynceus, after the sisters had been purified for the murders by Athena and Hermes at Zeus’ command (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.5).

King of Argos

After the death of Danaus, Lynceus succeeded him as king of Argos (Pausanias 2.16.1). Lynceus and Hypermnestra had a son, Abas, and Abas became the father of the twins Acrisius and Proetus (Apollodorus, Library 2.2.1). Acrisius and Proetus fought over the kingdom, and Acrisius kept Argos while Proetus took Tiryns.

Another Lynceus

The name Lynceus was also borne by a Messenian, the brother of Idas, who was famous for his sharp sight: he could see even things under the ground (Apollodorus, Library 3.10.3; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.151–155). Pindar says that no man on earth had keener eyes (Pindar, Nemean 10). That Lynceus was a son of Aphareus and sailed with the Argonauts. The two are different men, and the stories of sharp sight belong to the Messenian.

Lynceus Sources

Apollodorus, Library 2.1.4–5, 2.2.1, 3.10.3; Pausanias 2.16.1, 2.19.6, 2.20.7, 2.25.4; Pindar, Nemean 10; Aeschylus, Suppliants 250–251; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.151–155.

See Also: The Danaids, Aphrodite, Acrisius, Proetus, Idas