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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 ...
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 ]
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.
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 ...
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 Giampietrino omitted the swan in the Kassel painting, the eggshells betray the divine liaison.
It was a square work in tempera, representing Jupiter as a swan making love to a reclining Leda (based on a composition from ancient Roman gems and seals), an egg, and Castor and Pollux as children. The painting was completed by mid-October 1530, but Alfonso described it as a "little thing" in Michelangelo's hearing and so he refused to hand it ...