Castor And Pollux

For the stars, see Castor (star) and Pollux (star)

In Greek Mythology , Castor (or '''Kastor''') and '''Pollux''' (sometimes called '''Polydeuces''') were the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra . They are known as the Gemini , Latin for ''twins''. According to Liddell and Scott's ''Lexicon'', ''kastor'' is Greek for "beaver", and ''poludeukeis'' means "very sweet".

King Eucratides I (171-145 BC) with the Dioscuri.

Obv: Bust of Eucratides. Helmet decorated with a bull's horn and ear.

Rev: Depiction of the Dioscuri, each holding palm in left hand, spear in righthand. Greek legend: BASILEOS MEGALOI EUKRATIDOI "Great King Eucratides".]]
They are called the Dioscuri (''dios kouroi''), meaning the "Sons of Zeus", although the story of their parentage is confused, as it is for their sisters Helen and Clytemnestra. The best known story is that Zeus disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda. Thus Leda's children are frequently said to have hatched from two eggs that she then produced. By many accounts, however, Leda's mortal husband Tyndareus could also have fathered some of the children. Which children are thus mortal and which half-immortal is not consistent among accounts, nor is which child hatched from which egg. 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. In Homer's Iliad , Helen looks down from the walls of Troy and wonders why she does not see her brothers among the Achaeans. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at this early point in the development of the legend, both were mortal.

As a further complication, the Zeus swan story is sometimes associated with the goddess Nemesis . In this tradition, it was Nemesis who was seduced and who laid the egg, but the egg was then found by or given to Leda. However, this story is usually associated with Helen, not with Castor and Polydeuces.

Polydeuces was a powerful boxer, and Castor a great horseman.

Maxentius .]]

In Roman Mythology , Castor was venerated much more often than Polydeuces. He was known as Castore.

When Theseus and Pirithous kidnapped their sister Helen and carried her off to Aphidnae , the twins rescued her and counter-abducted Theseus' mother, Aethra . They also accompanied Jason on the '' Argo ''; during the voyage, Polydeuces killed King Amycus in a boxing match.

When Astydameia , queen of Iolcus , offended Peleus , the twins assisted him in ravaging her country.

Castor and Polydeuces abducted and married Phoebe and Hilaeira , the daughters of Leucippus . In return, Idas and Lynceus , nephews of Leucippus (or rival suitors), killed Castor. Polydeuces was granted immortality by Zeus, and further persuaded Zeus to share his gift with Castor. (In some accounts, only Polydeuces was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and her husband Tyndareus conceived Castor. This explains why only Polydeuces was granted immortality.) Accordingly, the two spend alternate days as gods on Olympus and as deceased mortals in Hades .

Their festival was on .

Compare with Amphion And Zethus of Thebes , with Romulus And Remus of Rome , the Alcis of Germanic Mythology and with the Asvin s of Vedic Mythology. Some have supposed a general Indo-European origin for the myth of the Divine Twins .

The constellation Gemini is said to represent these twins, and its brightest stars Castor and Pollux (α and β Geminorum) are named for them. There are also ancient sources which identify them with the morning and evening stars.

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Castor And Pollux