Rupert Bunny
"The Danaïdes", 1918

Fifty sisters — daughters of King Danaus — condemned for murdering their husbands on their wedding night, ordered by their father to kill the fifty sons of King Aegyptus. All obeyed except Hypermnestra, who spared hers out of love. In the afterlife, the others endlessly fill a bottomless barrel with water — eternal punishment for their crime. A myth of remorse, sorrow, and futility.

Ironically, Hypermnestra’s husband later killed Danaus, avenging his brothers.

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