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Leda and the Swan, ancient fresco from Pompeii. In Greek mythology, Leda (/ ˈ l iː d ə, ˈ l eɪ-/; Ancient Greek: Λήδα [lɛ́ːdaː]) was an Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen. According to Ovid, she was famed for her beautiful black hair and snowy skin. [1] Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art ...
Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces Leda, a Spartan queen. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces , children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra , children of her husband Tyndareus , the King of Sparta .
Tyndareus’ wife Leda was seduced by Zeus, who disguised himself as a swan. She laid two eggs, each producing two children; Castor and Pollux , and Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra . When Thyestes seized control in Mycenae , two exiled princes, Agamemnon and Menelaus came to Sparta , where they were received as guests and lived for a number of ...
Articles relating to Leda and her depictions. She was an Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen. According to Ovid, she was famed for her beautiful black hair and snowy skin. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan.
Leda was married to the king of Sparta, Tyndareus. [10] She is the mother of several children though she is most known for giving birth to Clytemnestra, Helen, Pollux , and Castor. [ 11 ] The most common myth claims that Zeus transformed himself into a swan to couple with Leda. [ 12 ]
The beautiful princess Leda is seduced by Zeus who transformed himself to a magnificent swan. On the same night, Leda would also sleep with her husband, King Tyndareus of Sparta. The result is a pair of twins, the beautiful Helen and the immortal Pollux as children of Zeus, Clytemnestra and the mortal Castor as offspring of Tyndareus. While ...
Castor [a] and Pollux [b] (or Polydeuces) [c] are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. [d]Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. [2]
It has been proposed that Leonardo's Chatsworth sketch for Leda and the Swan (pictured) may have been inspired by the Laocoön Group, the ancient sculpture discovered in 1506: there is a similar twist to the subject's body; the curve of the swan's neck recalls the snake's lithe body in Laocoön's hand; the rape by Zeus evokes the forceful ...