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This article is about the Aegyptus from Egyptian
mythology. For the Book of Abraham reference, see Egyptus.
In Greek mythology, Aegyptus, or
Aigıptos ("supine goat") was the king of Egypt (which
took its name from him), the son of Belus and father of fifty
sons who were all but one murdered by the fifty daughters of Aegyptus' twin brother, Danaus.
Aegyptus commanded that his sons marry the Danaides and Danaus fled to Argos, ruled by King Pelasgus. When Aegyptus and
his sons arrived to take the Danaides, Danaus gave them to spare the Argives the pain of a battle. However, he instructed his
daughters to kill their husbands on their wedding night. Forty-nine followed through, but one, Hypermnestra refused because her husband, Lynceus, honored
her wish to remain a virgin. Danaus was angry with his disobedient daughter and threw her to the Argive courts. Aphrodite intervened and saved her. Lynceus later killed Danaus as revenge for the death
of his brothers. Lynceus and Hypermnestra then began a dynasty of Argive kings (the Danaan 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.
Aegyptus is also the latin spelling of Egypt, and the correct denomination for the Roman province.
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