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I know that the story is mentioned in:

Are there any extant manuscripts of the above, or of any other works, predating the 1st century CE, which mention the story of Danae being impregnated by a golden shower from Zeus?

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  • Welcome to Mythology StackExchange! I'm not sure I understand your Question. Sophocles' Antigone does survive, and it premiered in 441 BC; & the ode of Pindar, to an excerpt of which your Question is linked, comes from the 400s BC as well. Are you asking if there are actual material copies of these works which still exist today that can be dated to before the Common Era? Or do you mean something rather different from that?
    – Adinkra
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 5:55
  • I'm asking if there are actual material ancient works(even if stone inscriptions) ,that mention this story,and predate the 1st century BC, which still exist today?
    – capri reds
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 13:39
  • Ah, I see. Allow a further clarification query, please: So your Question is about how old the actual paper, papyrus, stone, etc. itself is, & not simply when the attributed author originally wrote it down?
    – Adinkra
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 15:39
  • actually someone told me that we can't trust that this story is originally predates 1st century CE ,if we don't have the actual paper, papyrus, stone, etc. that predate 1st century CE ! . eg: if we don't have an actual paper of Antigone Sophocles that predates 1st century ,then we can't trust that the part that mentions the golden shower of zeus is original to the work ,as it could be later addition..he even suppose that the work could be totally faked and falsely attributed to sophocles.!!in other words,according to him, there is no way to prove that the myth predates 1st century CE.
    – capri reds
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 16:26
  • how should be the best way to prove to such kind of person,that the myth predates the 1st century CE?
    – capri reds
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

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The myth of Danae and the shower of gold appears on several vases dating back to the 5th century BC. See for example this krater:

enter image description here

and this calyx:

enter image description here

To dispel any doubt regarding which myth is portrayed on these vases, notice how in the second picture the female character is labelled "Danae". Also, the back of the same calyx depicts another scene from the same myth, namely the making of the wooden chest in which Danae and the newborn Perseus are thrown into the sea by Akrisios (also named on the vase).

According to Timothy Gantz (Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, p. 302) both scenes appear often in 5th century vases, "with Danae frequently holding up her skirts to catch the rain".

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  • thanx alot for the answer..would you tell me plz,what scientific method by which,they dated such vases?
    – capri reds
    Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 18:26
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    Generally for this period either Rehydroxylation dating or indirect radiocarbon dating (that is, you don't try to date the ceramics but the remaining traces of the content). These findings are compared with dendrochronological dating from the same site if available. A more relative dating method still in use is seriation
    – Codosaur
    Commented Nov 9, 2021 at 8:19

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