Danaë, Princess of Argos

Perseus was the son of Danaë who, by her very name, was the archetype and eponymous ancestor of all the Danaans.[2] She was the only daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos. Disappointed by his lack of luck in not having a son, Acrisius consulted the oracle at Delphi, who warned him that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son. Danaë was childless and to keep her so, he imprisoned her in a subterranean bronze chamber in the courtyard of his palace:[3] This mytheme is also connected to Ares, Oenopion, Eurystheus, etc. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and impregnated her. Soon after was born their child Perseus— "Perseus Eurymedon,[4] for his mother gave him this name as well" (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica IV).

Fearful for his future but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods by killing Zeus's offspring and his own daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest.[5] Danaë's fearful prayer made while afloat in the darkness has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos. Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys, who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes, the king of the island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(mythology) 9/4/09