Danaè

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Danaè was the daughter of Leontium. Athenaeus (XIII.64) relates a story about how she sacrificed her life to save her ex-lover's.

Danaè was the friend and companion of Laodicè, the widow (and murderess) of Antiochus II (died 246 BCE). When she had learned that Laodicè had decided to put treacherously to death an officer named Sophron, who had once been her lover, she gave him an intimation of the doom intended for him. Sophron made his escape, and Laodicè, in her indignation, ordered Danaè to be thrown down a precipice. The unhappy girl, who had disdained to say a word in the presence of her destroyer, broke out, as she was led to her execution, in these words: "The world does right to despise the Gods. This is the reward I receive from God for saving my husband, while Laodicè, who has killed hers, is invested with honor."