Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux Posted by: Occult World in Greek Gods , Greek Gods C March 6, 2013 0 Views The origins of some constellation myths are heavily debated. Gemini mythology, luckily, is pretty straightforward. By all accounts, the twins represented in Gemini mythology are Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology. They share the same mother, Leda (Greek mythology), but have different fathers. Castor’s father is Tyndarus, the King of Sparta, and Leda’s husband. Pollux’s father is the god Zeus (Greek mythology). As such, Pollux is an immortal while his twin brother Castor is mortal. The twins were young, handsome, and adventurous. They took part in many adventures together and were well known for their livelihood and curiosity. Castor was a renowned horseman, while Pollux was known for his great strength. Gemini Zodiac Symbol Their sister is the beautiful Helen of Troy, whom the great Trojan War is fought over. The twins not only took part in that war together, but were also Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Where Gemini mythology comes into play is when Castor, being mortal, finally dies.

Having spent their whole lives together, Pollux is distraught. He doesn’t want to live without his twin brother, but since he is immortal, there is nothing he can do. He begs his father, Zeus, for help. Zeus decides that rather than killing Pollux so he can be with Castor, he makes Castor immortal also, and the two of them get to live together forever as the constellation Gemini. Perhaps the reason that this story is rarely contested is because two of the actual stars in the constellation of Gemini are named “Castor” and “Pollux”. This is a rare case where astronomy and mythology actually agree, and thus, Gemini mythology is born. Facebook Comments Gemini Mythology - The Story Behind the Gemini Zodiac Sign Gemini Mythology The Story Behind the Gemini Zodiac Sign The origins of some constellation myths are heavily debated. Gemini mythology, luckily, is pretty straightforward. By all accounts, the twins represented in Gemini mythology are Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology. They share the same mother, Leda (Greek mythology), but have different fathers. Castor's father is Tyndarus, the King of Sparta, and Leda's husband. Pollux's father is the god Zeus (Greek mythology) .

As such, Pollux is an immortal while his twin brother Castor is mortal. The twins were young, handsome, and adventurous. They took part in many adventures together and were well known for their livelihood and curiosity. Castor was a renowned horseman, while Pollux was known for his great strength. Their sister is the beautiful Helen of Troy, whom the great Trojan War is fought over. The twins not only took part in that war together, but were also Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Where Gemini mythology comes into play is when Castor, being mortal, finally dies. Having spent their whole lives together, Pollux is distraught. He doesn't want to live without his twin brother, but since he is immortal, there is nothing he can do. He begs his father, Zeus, for help. Zeus decides that rather than killing Pollux so he can be with Castor, he makes Castor immortal also, and the two of them get to live together forever as the constellation Gemini. Perhaps the reason that this story is rarely contested is because two of the actual stars in the constellation of Gemini are named "Castor" and "Pollux".

This is a rare case where astronomy and mythology actually agree, and thus, Gemini mythology is born. Star Tales – Gemini Origin: One of the 48 Greek constellations listed by Ptolemy in the Almagest Greek name: Δίδυμοι (Didymoi) Gemini represents the mythical Greek twins Kastor (Κάστωρ) and Polydeukes (Πολυδεύκης). The Latinized forms of their names are Castor and Pollux (sometimes Polydeuces), by which they are now generally known. The Greeks referred to them jointly as the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri in Latin), literally meaning ‘sons of Zeus’. However, mythologists disputed whether both really were sons of Zeus, because of the unusual circumstances of their birth. Their mother was Leda, Queen of Sparta, whom Zeus visited one day in the form of a swan (now represented by the constellation Cygnus). That same night she also slept with her husband, King Tyndareus. Both unions were fruitful, for Leda subsequently gave birth to four children.

In the most commonly accepted version, Pollux and Helen (later to become famous as Helen of Troy) were children of Zeus, and hence immortal, while Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus, and hence were mortal. Castor and Pollux grew up the closest of friends, never quarrelling or acting without consulting each other. They were said to look alike and even to dress alike, as identical twins often do. Castor was a famed horseman and warrior who taught Heracles to fence, while Pollux was a champion boxer. The inseparable twins Castor and Pollux are commemorated in the constellation Gemini, depicted here in the Atlas Coelestis of John Flamsteed (1729). Castor carries a lyre and an arrow, Pollux a club. The stars Castor and Pollux mark the heads of the twins. The inseparable twins joined the expedition of Jason and the Argonauts in search of the golden fleece. The boxing skills of Pollux came in use when the Argonauts landed in a region of Asia Minor ruled by Amycus, a son of Poseidon.

Amycus, the world’s greatest bully, would not allow visitors to leave until they had fought him in a boxing match, which he invariably won. He stamped down to the shore where the Argo lay and challenged the crew to put up a man against him. Pollux, stirred by the man’s arrogance, accepted at once and the two pulled on leather gloves. Pollux easily avoided the rushes of his opponent, like a matador side-stepping a charging bull, and felled Amycus with a blow to the head that splintered his skull. On the Argonauts’ homeward trip with the golden fleece Castor and Pollux were of further value to the crew. Apollonius Rhodius tells us briefly that during the voyage from the mouth of the Rhone to the Stoechades Islands (the present-day Iles d’Hyères off Toulon) the Argonauts owed their safety to Castor and Pollux. Presumably a storm was involved, but he does not elaborate on the circumstances. Ever since this episode, says Apollonius – and he assures us there were other voyages on which they were saviours – the twins have been the patron saints of sailors.

Hyginus said that the twins were given the power to save shipwrecked sailors by Poseidon, the sea god, who also presented them with the white horses that they often rode. Mariners believed that during storms at sea the twins appeared in a ship’s rigging in the form of the electrical phenomenon known as St Elmo’s fire, as described by Pliny, the Roman writer of the first century AD, in his book Natural History: On a voyage stars alight on the yards and other parts of the ship. If there are two of them, they denote safety and portend a successful voyage. For this reason they are called Castor and Pollux, and people pray to them as gods for aid at sea. A single glow was called Helen and was considered a sign of disaster. Castor and Pollux clashed with another pair of twins, Idas and Lynceus, over two beautiful women. Idas and Lynceus (who were also members of the Argo’s crew) were engaged to Phoebe and Hilaira, but Castor and Pollux carried them off. Idas and Lynceus gave pursuit and the two sets of twins fought it out.

Castor was run through by a sword thrust from Lynceus, whereupon Pollux killed him. Idas attacked Pollux but was repulsed by a thunderbolt from Zeus. Another story says that the two pairs of twins made up their quarrel over the women, but came to blows over the division of some cattle they had jointly rustled. Whatever the case, Pollux grieved for his fallen brother and asked Zeus that the two should share immortality. Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellation Gemini, where they are seen in close embrace, inseparable to the last. The two brightest stars in the constellation, marking the heads of the twins, are named Castor and Pollux. Astronomers have found that Castor is actually a complex system of six stars linked by gravity, although to the eye they appear as one. Pollux is an orange giant star. Unlike the twins that they represent, the stars Castor and Pollux are not related since they lie at different distances from us. Eta Geminorum is called Propus, meaning ‘forward foot’ in Greek, a name that first appears with Eratosthenes.

Another identification – Apollo and Heracles Aratus referred to the constellation only as the twins (Δίδυμοι, i.e. Didymoi), without identifying who they were, but a century later Eratosthenes named them as the Dioscuri, meaning Castor and Pollux. An alternative view, reported by Hyginus, says that the constellation represents Apollo and Heracles (i.e. Hercules), both sons of Zeus but not twins. Ptolemy called the constellation the Twins (Δίδυμοι) in the Almagest, but in a later, more obscure treatise about astrology, called Tetrabiblos, he referred to Castor as ‘the star of Apollo’ and Pollux as ‘the star of Heracles’, supporting the identifications given by Hyginus. Several star maps personify the twins as Apollo and Heracles. On the illustration shown above, for example, one twin is depicted holding a lyre and arrow, attributes of Apollo, while the other carries a club, as did Heracles. Bode’s Uranographia depicts them in the same way.

Chinese associations In Chinese astronomy, the largest part of present-day Gemini was taken up by Jing, meaning Well (sometimes called the Eastern Well), which consisted of eight stars in the legs of the Twins: Lambda, Zeta, 36, Epsilon, Xi, Gamma, Nu, and Mu Geminorum. Together they form a shape resembling that of the Chinese character for ‘well’. The 22nd Chinese lunar mansion was named Jing after this constellation; it is the widest of the 28 mansions, extending for 33 degrees, greater even than any of the 12 western houses of the zodiac, which were all 30 degrees wide. The modern star Eta Geminorum next to the Well was known as Yue, a battle axe, used for decapitating the corrupt and immoral. Castor and Pollux were not part of Jing. Instead, with nearby Rho Geminorum they formed Beihe, the Northern River (the Southern River, Nanhe, was to be found in Canis Minor, incorporating Procyon and two other stars). Beihe and Nanhe lay north and south of the ecliptic respectively, so the pair were also interpreted as gates or sentries.

At either end of Beihe were Jishui and Jixin, each marked by a single star, representing a supply of water for winemaking or brewing and a pile of firewood for cooking. Sun and Kistemaker identify the relevant stars as Omicron and Phi Geminorum, although Kappa looks a better fit for the latter. Five stars from Theta to Kappa or Phi Geminorum were Wuzhuhou, five feudal lords or princes who acted as the Emperor’s advisors and teachers. Delta Geminorum was one of a triangle of stars on the ecliptic forming Tianzun, a wine cup or water jar with three feet. Shuiwei, ‘water level’, a curved line of four stars, was usually seen as extending from Canis Minor into Cancer, but some older versions show it as the stars 68 to 85 Geminorum, in an example of how Chinese constellations have literally changed their spots with time. © Ian Ridpath. All rights reserved Leda Leda by Jamie Cisco Leda was the daughter of Thestius and the wife of Tyndareus . She has been known as the Queen of Sparta.

Leda was seduced by Zeus when he came to her in the form of a swan. Leda gave birth to an egg. From it hatched the Dioscuri , the twins Castor and Pollux. With Zeus she also had Helen and with Tyndareus she had Clytemnestra . Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon , king of Mycenae. She was one of the tragic women in the Trojan War. While Agamemnon was away in the war, Clytemnestra took Aegisthus as her lover, and together they plotted to kill Agamemnon when he returned. One of her reasons was her husband's sacrifice of their daughter. When Agamemnon returned Clytemnestra pretended to greet him. Later, while Agamemnon bathed, Clytemnestra murdered him. She, herself was killed by her son Orestes . Helen of Troy was said to be the most beautiful woman in Greece and the major cause of the Trojan War. While still a young girl, Helen was carried off by an Athenian hero, Theseus . Before any harm could come to her the Dioscuri rescued her.

Later, she was sought after by almost every prince in Greece, but she finally married Menelaus , king of Sparta, who was the richest of the suitors. Helen and Memelaus had one child. Her name was Hermione . Helen and Menelaus' marriage was threatened when Paris , a Trojan prince, fell madly in love with Helen. Taking advantage of Menelaus' absence from the palace, Paris abducted Helen and then left for Troy. This was the cause of the Trojan War. All of the other prices had promised Tyndareus, Helen's father, that he would in case of need, come to the aid of the lucky man who became Helen's husband. Faithful to their oaths, all the princes of Greece took power under the command of Agamemnon to avenge the outrage done to Menelaus. For ten years the battle raged before the walls of Troy. Finally the Greek warriors were able to enter the city by hiding in the hollow flanks of a large wooden horse (see: Trojan horse ) which the Trojans themselves had put in the city. Troy was conquered and set on fire. Helen was returned to Menelaus and they were reconciled.

After Menelaus' death, Helen was put among the stars with Dioscuri. Castor and Pollux had a magnificent temple erected in their honor. They accompanied the Roman army on its campaigns and during battles were seen among the cavalry. They also protected sailors and travelers at sea. At Ostia they calmed a storm which was not allowing ships loaded with corn from entering port. Castor and Pollux carried off the two daughters of Leucippus and married them. This was the reason for their quarrel between Idas and Lynceus , who were also seeing the two young women. Pollux killed Lynceus while Castor was mortally wounded by Idas. Pollux wept over the body of his brother; for being himself immortal he could not follow Castor to the Kingdom of Hades. "In their quality of marine god they naturally presided over commerce." In the second century CE they were incorporated in funeral rituals and their popularity was so great that even Christians did not deny that they were symbols of life and death.

Article details: LEDA - Spartan Queen of Greek Mythology Leda -- Leda and the Swan, Greco-Roman mosaic C3rd A.D., Cyprus Museum LEDA was a queen of Sparta, the wife of King Tyndareus, who was seduced by Zeus in the guise of the swan. There were several versions of the parentage of her children:- Some say she laid an egg from which were hatched the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri) twins, Kastor and Polydeukes, both sons of Zeus. Others say she laid two eggs each containing a child of Zeus and a child of Tyndareus--Polydeukes and Kastor in one, and Helene and Klytaimnestra (Clytemnestra) in the other. Yet others relate that the second egg, containing just Helene, was delivered to Leda by the goddess Nemesis who had lain it after coupling with Zeus in the guise of a goose. CHRONOLOGY OF MYTH In the chronology of myth Leda was a contemporary of Herakles who placed her husband Tyndareus on the throne of Sparta.

Her Dioskouroi sons joined the expedition of the Argonauts and the Kalydonian Boar Hunt--albeit at a very young age--while her daughters Helene and Klytaimnestra were the wives of Trojan War heroes. In ancient Greek vase painting the generation gap between the sons and daughters of Leda was sometimes illustrated--with the full-grown DIoskouroi standing witness as Helene hatches from the egg. In myth the twins also led an army to Athens when Theseus kidnapped their ten year old sister. Leda was usually described as a daughter of Thestios, king of Pleuron. Her sister Althaia was the mother of the Kalydonian hero Meleagros (Meleager). Thestios himself was a grandson of Aitolos (Aetolus), son of the famed Endymion .

FAMILY OF LEDA [1.1] THESTIOS & EURYTHEMIS (Apollodorus 1.7.10) [1.2] THESTIOS & LAOPHONTE (Pherecydes Frag, Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius 1.146) [1.3] THESTIOS (Asius of Samos Frag, Theocritus Idylls 22.1, Pausanias 3.13.8, Clement Recognitions 10.22, Hyginus Fabulae 78 & 155) [2.1] SISYPHOS & PANTEIDYIA (Eumelus Corinthiaca Frag, Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius 1.146) [3.1] GLAUKOS (Alcman Frag 4, Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius 1.146) OFFSPRING [1.1] KASTOR & POLYDEUKES (by Zeus *) (Homer Odyssey 11.298, Homeric Hymns 1

7 & 33, Terpander Frag 4, Apollodorus 1.8.2, Apollonius Rhodius 1.146, Theocritus Idylls 22.1 & 214, Pausanias 3.16.1, Hyginus Fabulae 14 & 155, Ovid Fasti 1.705) [1.3] KASTOR, POLYDEUKES, HELENE (by Zeus ) (Homer Iliad 3.237 & 426, Clement Recognitions 10.22, Hyginus Fabulae 224, Fulgentius 2.13) [1.3] KASTOR (by Tyndareus), KASTOR (by Zeus ) (Pindar Nemean Ode 10.79) [1.4] POLYDEUKES, HELENE (by Zeus ), KASTOR, KLYTAIMNESTRA (by Tyndareus) (Apollodorus 3.10.7, Hyginus Fabulae

 77, Valerius Flaccus 1.426) [1.5] HELENE (Diodorus Siculus 4.63.2) [1.6] HELENE (by Zeus ) (Lucian Judgement of Paris, Hyginus Fabulae 240 & Astronomica 1.8, Ovid Heroides 16.1 & 17.43) [1.7] HELENE (by Tyndareus) (Dictys Cretensis 1.9) [1.8] HELENE, KLYTAIMNESTRA (by Tyndareus) (Hyginus Fabulae 77) [1.9] KLYTAIMNESTRA (Aeschylus Agamemnon 914, Seneca Agamemnon 125) [1.10] TIMANDRA, KLYTAIMNESTRA, PHYLONOE (by Tyndareus) (Apollodorus 3.10.6) * Kastor and Polydeukes were called sons of Zeus but also, in the majority of these passages

, Tyndaridai (i.e.

sons of Tyndareus). ENCYCLOPEDIA LEDA (Lêda), a daughter of Thestius, whence she is called Thestias (Apollod. iii. 10. § 5; Paus. iii. 13. § 8; Eurip. Iph. Aul. 49); but others call her a daughter of Thespius, Thyestes, or Glaucus, by Laophonte, Deidamia, Leucippe, Eurythemis, or Paneidyia. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 146, 201 ; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 130; Hygin, Fab. 14; Apollod. i. 7. § 10.) She was the wife of Tyndareus, by whom she became the mother of Timandra, Clytaemnestra, and Philonoe. (Apollod. iii. 10. § 6; Hom. Od. xxiv.

199.) One night she was embraced both by her husband and by Zeus, and by the former she became the mother of Castor and Clytaemnestra, and by the latter of Polydeuces and Helena. (Hygin. Fab. 77.) According to Homer (Od. xi. 298, &c.) both Castor and Polydeuces were sons of Tyndareus and Leda, while Helena is described as a daughter of Zeus. (Il. iii. 426; comp. Ov. Fast. i. 706; Horat. Carm. i. 12, 25; Martial, i. 37.) Other traditions reverse the story, making Castor and Polydeuces the sons of Zeus, and Helena the daughter of Tyndareus. (Eurip. Helen. 254, 1497, 1680; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 808 ; Herod. ii.

112.) According to the common legend Zeus visited Leda in the disguise of a swan, and she produced two eggs, from the one of which issued Helena, and from the other Castor and Polydeuces. (Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 453; Ov. Her. xvii. 55 ; Paus. iii. 16. § 1; Horat. Ars Poet. 147; Athen. ii. p. 57, &c., ix. p. 373; Lucian, Dial. Deor. ii. 2, xxiv. 2, xxvi.; comp. Virgil, Cir. 489; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 88.) The visit of Zeus to Leda in the form of a swan was frequently represented by ancient artists. It should be observed that Phoebe is also mentioned as a daughter of Tyndareus and Leda (Eurip. Iph. Aul. 50), and that, according to Lactantius (i. 21.), Leda was after her death raised to the rank of a divinity, under the name of Nemesis.

Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES Leda and the Swan, Greco-Roman mosaic from Spain Homer, Iliad 3. 237 & 426 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[Helene, surveying the Greek army from the walls of Troy, speaks :] ‘Yet nowhere can I see those two, the marshals of the people, Kastor (Castor), breaker of horses, and the strong boxer, Polydeukes (Polydeuces), my own brothers, born with me of a single mother [i.e. Leda]. Perhaps these came not with the rest from Lakedaimon.’" "Helene daughter of Zeus of the aigis." [N.B. Homer knows Helene is the daughter of Zeus and Leda though her mother is not actually named.] Homer, Odyssey 11. 298 ff (trans.

Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[Odysseus sees the shades of heroines in the underworld :] Next I saw Leda; she was wife of Tyndareos (Tyndareus) and bore him two stalwart sons, the charioteer Kastor (Castor), the boxer Polydeukes (Polydeuces); grain-giving earth now holds them both, yet both are alive, because even underground they have this favour given them by Zeus that each of them lives on day and dies on day this and that in turn." Homeric Hymn 17 to the Dioscuri (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) : "Kastor (Castor) and Polydeukes (Polydeuces), the Tyndaridai (Tyndaridae), who sprang from Olympian Zeus. Beneath the heights of Taygetos stately Leda bare them, when the dark-clouded Son of Kronos had privily bent her to his will.

Hail, children of Tyndareus, riders upon swift horses!" Homeric Hymn 33 to the Dioscuri : "The Tyndaridai (Tyndaridae), the Sons of Zeus, glorious children of neat-ankled Leda, Kastor (Castor) the tamer of horses, and blameless Polydeukes (Polydeuces). When Leda had lain with the dark-clouded Son of Kronos, she bare them beneath the peak of the great hill Taygetos,--children who are delivers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea." Terpander, Fragment 4 (from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Composition 17) (trans. Edmonds, Vol. Lyra Graeca I) (C7th B.C.) : "O [Dioskouroi (Dioscuri) sons] of Zeus and Leda, saviours most beautiful." Pindar, Nemean Ode 10. 65 & 79 ff (trans.

Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) : "Leda's son [Polydeukes] came in hot pursuit . . . Then swiftly ran [Polydeukes] the son of Tyndareus back to his warrior brother [Kastor (Castor)] . . . [But Kastor died and] Zeus came and stood before him [Polydeukes] and spoke these words : ‘Thou are my son; but after in thy mother's [i.e. Leda's] womb was set the mortal seed of this thy brother [Kastor], sprung from her hero husband [Tyndareus]. But see then, none the less this choice I will give thee: if freed from death and the harsh years of age, it is thy will to dwell beside my throne upon Olympos . . . But if, in thy heart's travail for thy brother, thou art in mind to share all things alike with him, then half thy days shalt thou beneath the earth draw breath, and half within the golden citadels of heaven.’" Aeschylus, Agamemnon 914 ff (trans.

Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : "[Agamemnon addresses his wife Klytaimnestra (Clytemnestra) :] Offspring of Leda, guardian of my house." Dionysius I of Syracuse, Leda (lost tragedy) (Greek tragedy C5th to 4th B.C.) : The tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse wrote a play entitled Leda for the Dionysia of Athens. It was probably not unique. The comedians also dealt with the story of Leda and the birth of Helene. An Apulian vase painting of the era (H29.1 below) depicts Helene hatching from the egg surrounded by actors wearing comedy masks. Scholiast on Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica 1. 146 (trans. Edmonds, Vol.

Lyra Graeca I, Alcman Frag 4) : "It is true that Pherekydes (Pherecydes) [Greek mythographer C5th B.C.] says in his second Book that Leda and Althaia were daughters of Thestios (Thestius) by Laophonte daughter of Pleuron; but that Leda was daughter of Glaukos (Glaucus) is implied by Alkman (Alcman) [lyric poet C6th B.C.] thus : ‘. . his sons by the blessed daughter of Glaukos.’ She is made the daughter of Sisyphos and Panteidyia by Eumelos [epic poet C8th B.C.] in the Korinthiaka." [N.B. Sisyphos and Glaukos were two mythical kings of Korinthos (Corinth) and Eumelos a Korinthian poet.] Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 7. 7 & 7. 10 (trans.

Frazer) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Aitolos (Aetolus) and Pronoe, daughter of Phorbos (Phorbus), had sons, Pleuron and Kalydon (Calydon), after whom the cities in Aitolia (Aetolia) were named. Pleuron wedded Xanthippe, daughter of Doros (Dorus), and begat a son Agenor, and daughters, Sterope and Stratonike (Stratonice) and Laophonte. Kalydon and Aiolia (Aeolia), daughter of Amythaon, had daughters, Epikaste (Epicaste) and Protogenia, who had Oxylos by Ares. And Agenor, son of Pleuron, married Epikaste, daughter of Kalydon, and begat Porthaon and Demonike (Demonice), who had Euenos (Evenus), Molos, Pylos, and Thestios by Ares . . .

Thestios (Thestius) had daughters and sons by Eurythemis, daughter of Kleoboia (Cleoboea) : the daughters were Althaia (Althaea), Leda, Hypermnestra, and the males were Iphiklos (Iphiclus), Euippos, Plexippos, and Eurypylos." [N.B. According to Pherekydes--see Scholiast on Apoll. Rhod. above--Laophonte daughter of Pleuron was the mother of Leda and Althaia. Although Apollodorus also mentions Laophonte as a daughter of Pleuron, he selects an alternate mother for the daughters of Thestios--perhaps the mother given by the poet Asios, see Pausanias 3.13.8.] Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 10. 5 - 7 : "Hippokoon (Hippocoon) expelled [his brothers] Ikarios (Icarius) and Tyndareus from Lakedaimon (Lacedaemon).

They fled to Thestios (Thestius) and allied themselves with him in the war which he waged with his neighbors; and Tyndareus married Leda, daughter of Thestios. But afterwards, when Herakles slew Hippokoon and his sons, they returned, and Tyndareus succeeded to the kingdom . . . Tyndareus and Leda had daughters, to wit, Timandra, whom Ekhemos (Echemus) married, and Klytaimnestra (Clytemnestra), whom Agamemnon married; also another daughter Phylonoe, whom Artemis made immortal. But Zeus in the form of a swan consorted with Leda, and on the same night Tyndareus cohabited with her; and she bore Polydeukes (Polydeuces) and Helene to Zeus, and Kastor (Castor) and Klytaimnestra to Tyndareus.

But some say that Helene was a daughter of Nemesis and Zeus; for that she, flying from the arms of Zeus, changed herself into a goose, but Zeus in his turn took the likeness of a swan and so enjoyed her; and as the fruit of their loves she laid an egg, and a certain shepherd found it in the groves and brought and gave it to Leda; and she put it in a chest and kept it; and when Helene was hatched in due time, Leda brought her up as her own daughter." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 11. 2 : "Of the sons born to Leda Kastor (Castor) practised the art of war, and Polydeukes (Polydeuces) the art of boxing; and on account of their manliness they were both called Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)." Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 8. 2 : "Kastor (Castor) and Polydeukes (Polydeuces), sons of Zeus and Leda, from Lakedaimon (Lacedaemon)." Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.

146 ff (trans. Seaton) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) : "[The gathering of the Argonauts :] Aitolian (Aetolian) Leda sent from Sparta strong Polydeukes (Polydeuces) and Kastor (Castor), skilled to guide swift-footed steeds; these her dearly-loved sons she bare at one birth in the house of Tyndareus; nor did she forbid their departure; for she had thoughts worthy of the bride of Zeus." Lycophron, Alexandra 86 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) : "I see the winged firebrand [Paris] rushing to seize the dove [Helene], the hound of Pephnos, whom the water-roaming vulture [i.e. Nemesis in the form of a goose] brought to birth, husked in a rounded shell." Lycophron, Alexandra 142 ff : "[Helene] the five-times-married frenzied descendant of Pleuron." [I.e.

Helene, daughter of Leda, daughter of Thestios, son of Agenor, son of Pleuron; or else Helene, daughter of Leda, daughter of Laophonte, daughter of Pleuron.] Lycophron, Alexandra 506 ff : "Those wolves [the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] whose head a cloven egg-shell covers . . . the twin half-mortal Lapersioi." [N.B. The Dioskouroi wore conical caps resembling half egg-shells, after the egg laid by Leda from which they were hatched.] Leda and the Swan, Apulian red-figure loutrophoros C4th B.C., The J. Paul Getty Museum Theocritus, Idylls 22. 1 (trans. Edmonds) (Greek bucolic C3rd B.C.) : "Our song is of the sons of Leda and the Aigis-Bearer [Zeus], Kastor (Castor) to wit and with him Polydeukes (Polydeuces), that dire wielder of the fist and of the wrist-harness of the leathern thong.

Twice is our song and thrice of the boys of Thestios' daughter, the two Spartan brethren which wont to save both men that are come upon the brink and horses that are beset in the bloody press; aye, and ships also." Theocritus, Idylls 22. 214 ff : "Fare you well, ye children of Leda; we pray you may ever send our hymns a goodly fame. For all singers are dear unto the sons of Tyndareus [the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] and unto Helene." Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 63. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) : "Helene, the daughter of Leda and Zeus, who . . . excelled all women in beauty." Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 33. 7 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "The Greeks say that Nemesis was the mother of Helene, while Leda suckled and nursed her. The father of Helene the Greeks like everybody else hold to be not Tyndareus but Zeus.

Having heard this legend Pheidias has represented Helene [on the base of the statue of Nemesis at Rhamnous] as being led to Nemesis by Leda, and he has represented Tyndareus and his children [the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] with a man Hippeus by name standing by with a horse." [N.B. Pheidias was an Athenian sculptor of the C5th B.C. The same scene occurs in contemporaneous Athenian vase painting where the Dioskouroi youths stand witness as Leda receives the egg. This conforms with the tradition that the twins were half a generation older than Helene.] Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 16. 1 : "[In the city of Sparta there] is a sanctuary of Hilaeira and of Phoibe (Phoebe). The author of the poem Kypria [Greek epic C7th or C6th B.C.] calls them daughters of Apollon. Their priestesses are young maidens, called, as are also the goddesses, Leukippides (Leucippides) . . .

Here there his been hung from the roof an egg tied to ribands, and they say that it is the famous egg that legend says Leda brought forth . . . Near it is built a house, said to have been occupied originally by the sons of Tyndareus [i.e. the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)]." [N.B. The Leukippides were wives of the Dioskouroi, the egg-born sons of Leda.] Pausanias, Description of Greece 3. 13. 8 : "[In Sparta there] is a hero-shrine of Pleuron. The sons of Tyndareus [i.e. the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] were descended on their mother's side from Pleuron, for Asios [Greek poet C7th to 6th B.C.] in his poem says that Thestios the father of Leda was the son of Agenor the son of Pleuron." Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 4 (trans.

Fowler) (Greek satire C2nd A.D.) : "Leda's sons [the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] take turn and turn about betwixt Heaven and Haides." Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 8 : "[Menippos journeys to the underworld and asks the god Hermes, guide of the dead, to show him the great beauties of myth.] Menippos : Where are all the beauties, Hermes? Show me round; I am a new-comer. Hermes : I am busy, Menippos. But look over there to your right, and you will see Hyakinthos (Hyacinthus), Narkissos (Narcissus), Nireus, Akhilleus (Achilles), Tyro, Helene, Leda,--all the beauties of old." Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead 25 : "Each [of the Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] has his half egg-shell, with the star on top, each his javelin and his white horse . . . Polydeukes (Polydeuces), Kastor (Castor) . . .

It was decreed that one of the sons of Leda must die, and the other be immortal; and by this arrangement they split the immortality between them." Lucian, The Judgement of Paris (trans. Fowler) (Greek satire C2nd A.D.) : "Aphrodite [to Paris] : Well, she [Helene] is the daughter of Leda, the beautiful woman, you know, whom Zeus visited in the disguise of a swan. Paris : And what is she like? Aphrodite : She is fair, as might be expected from the swan, soft as down (she was hatched from an egg, you know), and such a lithe, graceful figure." Anonymous, Dictys Cretensis' Journal of the Trojan War 1. 9 (trans. Frazer) (Latin faux-journal C4th A.D. after Greek original C1st A.D.) : "She [Helene] answered that she was Alexander's [Paris'] relative . . .

Agenor, he had begotten Taygete; and she had given birth to Lacedaemon by Jupiter [Zeus]; Lacedaemon had begotten Amyclas, and he had begotten Argalus, the father of Oebalus; it was well known that Oebalus was the father of Tyndareus, and he, it seemed, was her father. She also recited the relation of her mother's family with Hecuba, for the son of Agenor, Phoenix, was the ancestor both of Leda and of Hecuba's father, Dymas." [N.B. It is not clear what genealogy the author has in mind when he traces the descent of Leda from Phoinix.] Clement, Exhortation to the Greeks 2 (trans. Butterworth) (Greek Christian rhetoric C2nd A.D.) : "Zeus is no longer a snake, nor a swan, nor an eagle, nor an amorous man.

He is not a god who flies, or corrupts boys, or kisses, or ravishes; and yet there are still many beautiful women left, fairer even than Leda and nearer their prime than Semele, and lads more blooming and more refined than the Phrygian herdsman [Ganymedes]. Where is now that famous eagle? Where is the swan? Where is Zeus himself? He has grown old, wings and all. For you may be sure he is not repentant because of his love affairs, nor is he training himself to live a sober life. See, the legend is laid bare. Leda is dead; the swan is dead; the eagle is dead. Search for your Zeus." Clement, Exhortation to the Greeks 4 : "Casting off shame and fear, they [the pagan Greeks] have their homes decorated with pictures representing the unnatural lust of the daimones [i.e. the gods]. In the lewdness to which their thoughts are given . . .

[and] to show they approve the representation of effeminacy, they engrave in the hoops of their rings the amorous bird hovering over Leda, using a seal which reflects the licentiousness of Zeus. These are the patterns for your voluptuousness; these are the stories that give divine sanction for wanton living; these are the lessons taught by gods who are fornicators like yourselves." Clement, Recognitions 10. 22 (trans. Smith) : "Vile Transformatoins of Jupiter [Zeus] . . . Amongst those whom we have mentioned [of the adulteries of Zeus], he violated some being transformed, like a magician . . . Leda, the daughter of Thestius, being changed into a swan, of whom was born Helen; and again the same, being changed into a star, and of her were born Castor and Pollux." Clement, Recognitions 10. 34 : "The Allegories an Afterthought . . .

Whence it is the more evident that prudent men, when they saw that the common superstition was so disgraceful, so base, and yet they had not learned any way of correcting it, or any knowledge, endeavoured with what arguments and interpretations they could to veil unseemly things under seemly speech, and not, as they say, to conceal seemly reasons under unseemly fables. For if this were the case, surely their statues and their pictures would never be made with representations of their vices and crimes. The swan [Zeus], which committed adultery with Leda, would not be represented, nor the bull which committed adultery with Europa; nor would they turn into a thousand monstrous shapes, him whom they think better than all. And assuredly, if the great and wise men who are amongst them knew that all this is fiction and not truth, would not they charge with impiety and sacrilege those who should exhibit a picture or carve an image of this sort, to the injury of the gods?" Helen hatching from the egg, Apulian red-figure bell krater C4th B.C., Bari Provincial Archaeological Museum Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 77 (trans.

Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "Jupiter [Zeus], changed into a swan, had intercourse with Leda near the river Eurotas, and from that embrace she bore Pollux [Polydeukes] and Helen; to Tyndareus she bore Castor and Clytemnestra." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 78 : "Tyndareus, son of Oebalus, by Leda, daughter of Thestius, became father of Clytemnestra and Helen." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 79 : "Helen, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 240 : "Helen, daughter of Jove [Zeus] and Leda." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 : "Castor and Pollux, sons of Jove [Zeus] and Leda, daughter of Thestius, Lacedaemonians; others call them Spartans, both beardless youths.

It is written that at the same time stars appeared on their heads, seeming to have fallen there." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 224 : "Mortals who were made immortal . . . Castor and Pollux, brothers of Helen, sons of Jove and Leda." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 251 : "Castor and Pollux, sons of Jove and Leda, return [from the underworld] in alternate death." Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 155 : "Sons of Jove [Zeus] . . . Castor and Pollux by Leda, daughter of Thestius. Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 1. 8 : "[Constellation Cygnus.] The sign the Greeks call the Swan, but others, out of ignorance of the story, have called it ornis, the general term for bird. This reason for the name has been handed down : When Jupiter [Zeus], moved by desire, had begun to love Nemesis, and couldn't persuade her to lie with him, he relieved his passion by the following plan.

He bade Venus [Aphrodite], in the form of an eagle, pursue him; he, changed to a swan, as if in flight from the eagle, took refuge with Nemesis and lighted in her lap. Nemesis did not thrust him away, but holding him in her arms, fell into a deep sleep. While she slept, Jupiter embraced her, and then flew away. Because he was seen by men flying high in the sky, they said he was put in the stars. To make this really true, Jupiter put the swan flying and the eagle pursuing in the sky. But Nemesis, as if wedded to the tribe of birds, when her months were ended, bore an egg. Mercurius [Hermes] took it away and carried it to Sparta and threw it in Leda's lap. From it sprang Helen, who excelled all other girls in beauty. Leda called her her own daughter. Others say that Jove [Zeus], in the form of a swan, lay with Leda. We shall leave the matter undecided." Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 110 ff (trans. Brookes More) (Roman epic C1st B.C.

to C1st A.D.) : "[The loves of Zeus :] And she wove Asteria seized by the assaulting eagle; and beneath the swan's white wings showed Leda lying by the stream: and showed Jove [Zeus] dancing as a Satyr, when he sought the beautiful Antiope, to whom was given twins; and how he seemed Amphitryon when he deceived Alcmena; and how he courted lovely Danae luring her as a gleaming shower of gold; and poor Aegina, hidden in his flame." Ovid, Fasti 1. 705 ff (trans. Frazer) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) : "Leda's divine sons . . . the brother gods [the Dioscuri]." Ovid, Heroides 8. 65 ff (trans. Showerman) (Roman poetry C1st B.C.

to C1st A.D.) : "[Hermione, daughter of Helen, addresses Orestes :] ‘Can it be some fate has come upon our house and pursued it through the years even to my time, that we Tantalid women are ever victims ready to the ravisher's hand? I shall not rehearse the lying words of the swan upon the stream, nor complain of Jove [Zeus] disguised in plumage . . . She of Taenarus [i.e. Helen], stolen away across the seas by the stranger-guest from Ida [i.e. Paris], roused to arms in her behalf all the men of Argos. I scarcely remember, to be sure, yet remember I do. All was grief, everywhere anxiety and fear; my grandsire wept, and my mother's sister Phoebe, and the twin brothers [the Dioscuri], and Leda fell to praying the gods above, and her own Jove [Zeus].’" Ovid, Heroides 13. 61 ff : "O Leda's daughter [Helene], sister to the Twins." Ovid, Heroides 16. 1 ff (trans.

Showerman) : "Paris to Helene : I, son of Priam, send you, Leda's daughter, this wish for welfare." Ovid, Heroides 16. 82 ff : "Sweetly Venus smiled : ‘Paris, let not these gifts move thee, both of them full of anxious fear!’ she says; ‘my gift shall be of love, and beautiful Leda's daughter [Helene], more beautiful than her mother, shall come to thy embrace.’" Ovid, Heroides 16. 253 ff : "[Paris addresses Helene :] ‘Breasts whiter than pure snows, or milk, or Jove [Zeus] when he embraced your mother [Leda].’" Ovid, Heroides 16. 291 ff : "[Paris addresses Helene :] ‘Jove's [Zeus'] delight, and the delight of Venus [Aphrodite], are in stealthy sins like these; such stealthy sins, indeed, gave you Jove for sire.

If power over character be in the seed, it scarce can be that you, the child of Jove and Leda, will remain chaste.’" Ovid, Heroides 17. 43 ff : "[Helene addresses Paris :] ‘For, as to my mother's [Leda's] seeming to you a fit example, and your thinking you can turn me, too, by citing it, you are mistaken there, since she fell through being deceived by a false outside; her lover was disguised by plumage. For me, if I should sin I can plead ignorance of nothing; there will be no error to obscure the crime of what I do. Her error was well made, and her sin redeemed by its author. With what Jove [Zeus] shall I be called happy in my fault?’" Ovid, Heroides 17. 51 ff : "[Helene to Paris :] ‘This house of mine is glorious enough with its own nobility . . . Leda makes Jove [Zeus] my father, deceived by the swan, false bird she cherished in her trusting bosom.’" Ovid, Heroides 12.

64 ff : "O Leda's daughter [Helene], sister to the Twins [the Dioscuri]." Virgil, Aeneid 1. 648 ff (trans. Fairclough) (Roman epic C1st B.C.) : "Presents, too, snatched from the wreck of Ilium, he [Aeneas] bids him bring, a mantle stiff with figures wrought in gold, and a veil fringed with yellow acanthus, once worn by Argive Helena when she sailed for Pergamus and her unlawful marriage--she had brought them from Mycenae, the wondrous gift of her mother Leda." Virgil, Aeneid 3. 330 ff : "[Neoptolemos] seeking Leda's Hermione and a Spartan marriage." [N.B. Hermione, daughter of Helene, is probably called Leda's for she would have been raised by her grandmother after Helene eloped to Troy.] Seneca, Agamemnon 125 ff (trans.

Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "[Clytemnestra] Queen of the Greeks, Leda's illustrious child." Seneca, Phaedra 298 ff : "How often did he [Zeus] put on lower forms, even he who made heaven and the clouds: now as a bird he fluttered his white wings with note sweeter than the dying swan [to seduce Leda]; now with savage front as a wanton bull he lowered his back for the sport of maidens [to seduce Europa]." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1. 426 ff (trans.

Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "On both [the Dioscuri] alike there gleams a purple cloak bright with Taenarian dye, fair work that their mother [Leda] wove on twin looms; twice had she broidered massive Taygetus and its leafy woods, twice in pliant gold the streaming Eurotas; each is borne upon his own horse, worked in snow-white thread, and on the breast of each their swan-father [Zeus] is flying." Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 1. 562 ff : "The sons of Leda. . . the two sons of Tyndareus." Statius, Thebaid 7. 163 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) : "[On the loves of Zeus :] Not in such mood wouldst thou [Zeus] go to Danaë's city, or the Parrhasian grove [of Callisto], or Amyclae, Leda's home." Statius, Thebaid 10.

502 ff : "Thee the Oebalian woodland, thee the Laconian maiden's [Leda]s deceitful river-bank shall mourn, and the flood [the river Eurotas] that the feigned swan [Zeus] once sang of." Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 32 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) : "Castor and Pollux, their heads covered by egg-shaped helmets prominently topped with stars." [N.B. They wear the egg-shells of their birth as caps.] Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 110 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "Eros (Love) . . . took out the divine quiver, in which were kept apart twelve firefed arrows for Zeus, when his desire turned towards one or another of mortal women for a bride. Right on the back of his quiver of lovebolts he had engraved with letters of gold a sentence in verse for each.

On the back of his quiver of lovebolts he [the god Eros] had engraved with letters of gold a sentence in verse for each:-- The first takes Kronion (Cronion) to the bend of heifer-fronted Io. The second shall Europa woo for the bold bull abducting. The third to Plouto's (Pluto's) bridal brings the lord of high Olympos. The fourth shall call to Danaë a golden bed-companion. The fifth shall offer Semele a burning fiery wedding. The sixth shall bring the King of heaven an eagle to Aigina (Aegina). The seventh joins Antiope to a pretended Satyros (Satyr). The eighth, a swan endowed with mind shall bring to naked Leda. The ninth a noble stallion gives unto Perrhaibid Dia." Fulgentius, Mythologies 2. 13 (trans. Whitbread) (Roman mythographer C5th to 6th A.D.) : "The Fable of the Swan and Leda. Although love of lust is shameful in all men, yet it is never worse than when it is involved with honor.

For lust in relation to honor, not knowing what it sets in motion, is always opposed to dignity. He who seeks what he wishes to be something so divine must beware lest it become what it had not been. For Jove [Zeus] disguised as a swan lay with Leda, who laid an egg from which were born the three, Castor, Pollux, and Helen of Troy. This legend carries the flavour of an allegorical interpretation, for Jove is explained as the symbol of power, and Leda is for lide, which in Latin we call either insult or reviling. Thus all power getting involved with insults changes the appearance of its magnanimity. He is said to have changed into a swan because the naturalists, particularly Melistus of Euboea who has expounded the meanings of all the natural scientists, declare that a bird of this species is so filled with reviling that when this bird clamors the rest of the birds nearby become silent. For this reason it is also called an olor, as if derived from oligoria, necessarily involved with insults.

But let us see what is produced from this affair, no less than an egg, for, just as in an egg, all the dirt which is to be washed away at birth is retained inside, so too in the work of reviling everything is impurity. But from this egg are born the three, Castor, Pollux, and Helen, nothing less than a seedbed of scandal and strife, as I once wrote : ‘And the adulteress shatters both worlds with grief.’ For they explain Castor and Pollux as symbols of destruction, whence they explain the signs (signa) of the Castors in the sea as creating peril; they say that both of them rise up and fall down alternately, because pride always commands but always falls; whereby in Greek iperefania is the word for pride. Iperefania is strictly the term for appearance above, because, in those two constellations which they call by the name of the brothers, once appears above and the other sinks down, like Lucifer and Antifer; for in Greek Pollux is apo tu apollin, that is, seeking to destroy, and Castor is for cacon steron, that is, final evil." [N.B.

The faux etymologies have been constructed according to the author's tastes.] The First Vatican Mythographer (Roman Christian mythographer) : According to the First Vatican Mythographer (78), Castor, Pollux, and Helen all emerged from a single egg; according to another account (204), Leda laid two eggs, one of which produced Castor and Pollux, and the other Clytaemnestra and Helen. ANCIENT GREEK & ROMAN ART K1.11 Leda & Zeus as Swan Apulian Red Figure Vase Painting C4th B.C. H29.1 The Hatching of Helen Athenian Red Figure Vase Painting C5th B.C. Z1.4 Leda & Zeus as Swan Greco-Roman Kouklia Floor Mosaic C3rd A.D. Z1.5 Leda & Zeus as Swan Greco-Roman Spain Floor Mosaic A.D. SOURCES Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C. Homer, The Odyssey - Greek Epic C8th B.C.

Helen of Troy | Riordan Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia actor None Helen of Troy was a Greek demigod , a daughter of Zeus , and the mortal , Leda. She was the queen of Sparta, wife of King Meneleus, twin sister of Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnestra and she bore a daughter named Hermione. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War . Helen was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, sometimes even more beautiful than the goddess Aphrodite . Contents [ show ] History Zeus, in the form of a swan, was chased by an eagle. He sought refuge in Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta, and she gained his affection so they mated, and Helen was born as an egg. The three Olympian goddesses Athena , Hera , and Aphrodite appeared to Paris and asked him to make a decision on who was the best goddess. As Paris was unable to decide, the goddess each offered him a gift in return if he chose them. Athena offered all the wisdom in the world as well as good swordsmanship and victory in war. Hera offered him power over Asia Minor.

Aphrodite offered to give him the most beautiful mortal woman in the world, Helen. After listening to that, Paris immediately chose Aphrodite, making Athena and Hera outraged, which made them Paris' enemies. This was eventually orchestrated by Eris as Paris claiming Helen for his wife even though she was already married to King Menelaus. This action ended up starting the Trojan War . When Troy fell thanks to the Greeks using the Trojan Horse, Paris was killed and Helen was reclaimed. The different outcomes of Helen have varied for each story: Some say she was brought up to Mount Olympus by Zeus , after her death. Some say she was later hanged by the Furies . Some say she never made it to Troy, but that Hera, in order to take revenge from Aphrodite, made Hermes kidnap Helen and bring her to Egypt. While Helen was in Egypt, Hera made a fake Helen. After the war was over, Menelaus lost his ship and landed in Egypt. There the fake Helen disappeared and Menelaus and Helen tried to find a way to escape, without the king Theoklimenous taking notice on their escape. Eventually they came up with a plan.

Menelaus was going to pretend to be a lost sailor, and they would say that Menelaus was dead. Then Theoklimenous gave the real Menelaus a ship and food so he and Helen managed to escape. King Menelaus had planned to punish Helen, but later forgave her. The Lost Hero She is mentioned when Piper McLean is picking out a weapon and picks Helen's knife, Katoptris , which means looking glass, Annabeth Chase reckons that is all it was ever used for, and she doubts it ever saw war. Later at Aeolus' Palace, Jason Grace mistakes the wind nymph Mellie for a ghost, and Piper covers for him, saying he mistook Mellie for Helen of Troy. It seemed a little over the top, but Mellie appeared to buy it. Later still, Aphrodite appears to Piper in a dream to tell her that she is more powerful than she thinks, referring to Helen as having been one of her "favored ones", inferring that it was men's love for Helen that started the Trojan War.

Question: Who was the beautiful sister of the twins Castor and Pollux and mother to Hermione?
Answer: Helen of Troy