Source Verification: Acrisius

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

Who is Acrisius in Greek mythology?

Acrisius is a king of Argos, son of Abas and twin brother of Proetus, and the father of Danae. Apollodorus says the twins quarrelled even in the womb and later fought for the throne, inventing shields in that war. Acrisius kept Argos while Proetus took Tiryns. He is remembered above all as the grandfather of Perseus. An oracle warned that Danae's son would kill him, and every measure he took to prevent it failed.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.2.1

What is the prophecy about Acrisius?

Acrisius asked the oracle how he might have sons. According to Apollodorus, the god replied that his daughter Danae would give birth to a son who would kill him. The answer gave him no son and named his future killer instead. Pausanias calls it the prediction of the god and says it came true despite Acrisius's precautions against his daughter and grandson. Neither of these accounts names the oracle's location; many modern retellings place it at Delphi.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1

What did Acrisius do to his daughter Danae?

He imprisoned her to keep her childless. Apollodorus says Acrisius built a bronze chamber under the ground and guarded Danae in it. When she nevertheless bore a son, Perseus, he refused to believe Zeus was the father. He shut Danae and the baby in a chest and cast it into the sea. The chest washed ashore on Seriphos. Pausanias was later shown the site at Argos where the bronze chamber had stood.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1

How was Acrisius killed?

A discus thrown by his grandson Perseus killed him by accident at Larissa. Apollodorus says Acrisius fled Argos in fear of the oracle and was at Larissa during funeral games held by King Teutamides. Perseus, competing in the pentathlon, hit him on the foot with the discus and killed him instantly. Pausanias has Perseus giving displays of the discus, and Acrisius stepping unnoticed into its path. Both writers treat the death as the oracle's fulfilment.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.4.4

How was Acrisius related to Perseus?

Acrisius was Perseus's maternal grandfather, the father of his mother Danae. He never accepted the boy as a son of Zeus and set him adrift at sea as an infant. Ovid says Acrisius later regretted refusing to acknowledge his grandson. Pausanias says Perseus sought him out at Larissa wishing to greet him warmly. After the fatal accident Perseus was ashamed to inherit Argos and exchanged it for Tiryns.

Source: Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.16.2

Where Accounts Differ

outcome of the war with Proetus
who fathered Perseus
how Acrisius came to die at Larissa
whether his death was a punishment
where the oracle was consulted

The war between Acrisius and Proetus ends differently by source. Apollodorus has Acrisius win and expel Proetus, who returns with a Lycian army before the kingdom is divided. Pausanias reports that the battle fought near Argos ended in a draw and a reconciliation.
Who fathered Perseus is reported two ways in Apollodorus. Some said Proetus seduced Danae, which started the brothers' quarrel; others said Zeus reached her as a stream of gold. Acrisius himself, in Apollodorus and Ovid, refuses to believe Zeus was the father.
The circumstances of Acrisius's death differ. Apollodorus has him flee Argos in fear of the oracle and die at funeral games held by Teutamides at Larissa, struck on the foot during the pentathlon. Pausanias has him withdraw to Larissa and step into the path of a discus Perseus was displaying, with Perseus seeking him out to greet him.
Whether Acrisius was punished for impiety is not how the main accounts frame his death. Apollodorus and Pausanias present it as an oracle fulfilled, and Pausanias stresses that precaution could not prevent fate. Ovid adds a separate charge, that Acrisius opposed Bacchus and denied the divine birth of Perseus, but says only that he came to regret it.
Apollodorus and Pausanias call the source of the prophecy only the oracle and the god. The common modern statement that Acrisius consulted Delphi is not drawn from these passages.

Sources

Primary sources

Apollodorus, Library 2.2.1
Apollodorus, Library 2.2.2
Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1
Apollodorus, Library 2.4.4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.16.2
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.16.3
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.23.7
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.25.7
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.604-614
Herodotus, Histories 6.53-6.54