Lerna Fen, and all that men could need to make them blest: and yet
they were wretched, because they were jealous of each other. From
the moment they were born they began to quarrel; and when they grew
up each tried to take away the other's share of the kingdom, and
keep all for himself. So first Acrisius drove out Proetus; and he
went across the seas, and brought home a foreign princess for his
wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who were called Cyclopes;
and drove out Acrisius in his turn; and then they fought a long
while up and down the land, till the quarrel was settled, and
Acrisius took Argos and one half the land, and Proetus took Tiryns
and the other half. And Proetus and his Cyclopes built around
Tiryns great walls of unhewn stone, which are standing to this day.

But there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrisius and
prophesied against him, and said, 'Because you have risen up
against your own blood, your own blood shall rise up against you;
because you have sinned against your kindred, by your kindred you
shall be punished. Your daughter Danae shall bear a son, and by
that son's hands you shall die. So the Gods have ordained, and it
will surely come to pass.'

And at that Acrisius was very much afraid; but he did not mend his
ways. He had been cruel to his own family, and, instead of
repenting and being kind to them, he went on to be more cruel than
ever: for he shut up his fair daughter Danae in a cavern
underground, lined with brass, that no one might come near her. So
he fancied himself more cunning than the Gods: but you will see
presently whether he was able to escape them.

Now it came to pass that in time Danae bore a son; so beautiful a