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Dioskouroi pendant, 4th cent. BC
OBV: Two young male heads facing, side by side, one upright, the
other inverted.
R: ΙΣΤΡΙΗ Sea-eagle standing left on
dolphin.
In Greek mythology,
Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called
Pollux) 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".
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
children 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.
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.
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 July 15.
Compare with Amphion and
Zethus of Thebes, with Romulus and Remus
of Rome and
with the Asvins
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.
(Source:
WIKIPEDIA) |
