Golden Shower

or Shower of gold. A bribe, money. The allusion is to the classic tale of Jupiter and Danʹaē. Acrisʹios, King of Argos, being told that his daughter’s son would put him to death, resolved that Danʹaē should never marry, and accordingly locked her up in a brazen tower. Jupiter, who was in love with the princess, foiled the king by changing himself into a shower of gold, under which guise he readily found access to the fair prisoner.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.