An insatiable jar

Explanation

of those who eat much and are gluttonous. Transferred from the myth of the Danaids and the jar into which they pour the water they draw. For this jar is said to be in Hades, never to be filled; the souls of the uninitiated suffer about it; and certain maidens, whom they call the Danaids, fill broken vessels with water and carry it to that perforated jar. The proverb may also be applied to Hades itself, since though many are always dying, it is never filled. The reason the Danaids were condemned to this punishment is as follows. Aegyptus and Danaus, brothers, ruled the land of the Melampodes, which is now called Egypt. Danaus had fifty daughters, and Aegyptus fifty sons; Danaus, fearing the sons of Aegyptus, who quarreled with him about the rule, took up his daughters and came to Argos, and there settled. Later the sons of Aegyptus came to Danaus and urged him to put aside his enmity, and asked his daughters in marriage. He, still bearing a grudge over his exile, agreed to the marriages and assigned the maidens by lot. When he had drawn the lots for the marriages, he gave a feast and handed daggers to his daughters. They killed the bridegrooms in their sleep — except Hypermnestra, who saved Lynceus, since he had respected her virginity. For this reason the Danaids — except Hypermnestra — are said to have been condemned in Hades to draw water into a perforated jar.