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In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Leda (??da) was daughter of the Aetolia
Aetolia

Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefectures of Greece of Aetolia-Acarnania....
n king Thestius
Thestius

In Greek mythology, Thestius was the son of either Ares and Demonice, or Agenor, son of Pleuron by Epicasta. He was the father of Iphicles with Leucippe ....
, and wife of the king Tyndareus
Tyndareus

In Greek mythology, Tyndareus ???da?e?? was a Sparta king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra , Phoebe and Philonoe....
, of Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan
Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan is a Motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Castor and Polydeuces, children of Zeus while at the same time bearing Castor and Polydeuces and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta....
. She was the mother of Helen
Helen

In Greek mythology, Helen , better known as Helen of Sparta later Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor and Pollux, Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra....
 of Troy, Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
, and Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra , Phoebe, Heracles, Philonoe....
.

Leda was admired by Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
, who raped her in the guise of a swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
.






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Leda
In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Leda (??da) was daughter of the Aetolia
Aetolia

Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefectures of Greece of Aetolia-Acarnania....
n king Thestius
Thestius

In Greek mythology, Thestius was the son of either Ares and Demonice, or Agenor, son of Pleuron by Epicasta. He was the father of Iphicles with Leucippe ....
, and wife of the king Tyndareus
Tyndareus

In Greek mythology, Tyndareus ???da?e?? was a Sparta king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra , Phoebe and Philonoe....
, of Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan
Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan is a Motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Castor and Polydeuces, children of Zeus while at the same time bearing Castor and Polydeuces and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta....
. She was the mother of Helen
Helen

In Greek mythology, Helen , better known as Helen of Sparta later Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor and Pollux, Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra....
 of Troy, Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
, and Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra , Phoebe, Heracles, Philonoe....
.

Leda was admired by Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
, who raped her in the guise of a swan
Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes goose and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini....
. As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle. Their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen
Helen

In Greek mythology, Helen , better known as Helen of Sparta later Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor and Pollux, Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra....
—later known as the beautiful Helen Of Troy — Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
, and Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Leda and Zeus/Tyndareus , the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra and the half-brothers of Timandra , Phoebe, Heracles, Philonoe....
 (also known as the Dioscuri—also spelled Kastor and Polydeuces
Polydeuces

Polydeuces may refer to:*Polydeuces , a moon of Saturn*An alternative name for the Greek mythological hero Castor and Pollux...
). Which children are the progeny of Tyndareus, the mortal king, and which are of Zeus, and are thus half-immortal, is not consistent among accounts, nor is which child hatched from which egg. The split is almost always half mortal, half divine, although the pairings do not always reflect the children's heritage pairings. Castor and Polydeuces are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Polydeuces.
Moreauleda
In Homer's Iliad, Helen looks down from the walls of Troy and wonders why she does not see her brothers among the Achaeans
Achaeans

The Achaeans is one of the collective names used for the Greeks in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The other names are the Danaans and Argives ....
. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. The consensus is that Helen and Polydeuces
Polydeuces

Polydeuces may refer to:*Polydeuces , a moon of Saturn*An alternative name for the Greek mythological hero Castor and Pollux...
 were the immortal children of Zeus, while Castor
Castor

Castor or CASTOR may refer to:...
 and Clytemnestra were the mortal children of Tyndareus
Tyndareus

In Greek mythology, Tyndareus ???da?e?? was a Sparta king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra , Phoebe and Philonoe....
.

Leda also had other daughters by Tyndareus: Timandra
Timandra (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Timandra was one of the daughters of Leda and Tyndareus. Timandra married Echemus, the king of Arcadia, and with him had a son named Laodocus....
, Phoebe
Phoebe

Phoebe or Phebe is a female given name. Phoebe is also the name of a bird or a girl's name from the Book of Romans...
, Philonoe
Philonoe

In Greek mythology, there were two women known as Philonoe.#Daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and Leda . Artemis made her immortal.#Daughter of Iobates and first wife of Bellerophon....
.

Another account of the myth states that Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)

Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia , at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, Greece, in Greek mythology was the spirit of divine punitive justice against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess....
 was the mother of Helen, and was also impregnated by Zeus in the guise of a swan. A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who carefully kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter. Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen by creating the constellation Cygnus
Cygnus (constellation)

Cygnus is a northern constellation. Its name is Latin for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross ....
, the Swan, in the sky.

Leda and the swan and Leda and the egg were popular subjects in the ancient art. In the postclassical arts, it became a potent source of inspiration.

See also Leda and the Swan
Leda and the Swan

Leda and the Swan is a Motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Castor and Polydeuces, children of Zeus while at the same time bearing Castor and Polydeuces and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta....
 for the motif in the visual arts and the poem by William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats

File:William Butler Yeat by George Charles Beresford.jpgWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish people poet and dramatist and one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature....
.