The Danaids were the fifty daughters of King Danaus. They were betrothed to the fifty sons of the king's brother, but there was no love lost between the two brothers. On orders from King Danaus, all but one of the fifty daughters murdered their new husbands on their wedding night; Hypermnestra was the one exception - she spared her husband Lynceus because he agreed to respect her chastity. King Danaus threw Hypermnestra into prison, and the image shows her writing a letter to her husband Lynceus. Aphrodite rescued Hypermnestra and Lynceus slew Danaus. Hypermnestra and Lynceus consummated their marriage, and their son Abas began a new royal dynasty.
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