leda and the swan • 60

Leda and the Swan C

Clytemnestra
lytemnestra, Leda’s daughter, was forced

LZeus’ (Roman Jupiter’s) human lovers. Walking by the

to marry Agamemnon, king of Mycenae,
eda , wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, was another of
after he killed her husband Tantalus and her
child. She bore him four children: Iphigenia,
river Eurotas, she was overpowered by Zeus in the guise Electra, Chrysothemis, and Orestes. He earned
her particular hatred when he sacrificed their
of a swan. As a result, she laid two eggs, from which hatched
daughter Iphigenia to gain a good wind when
four children—Helen and Clytemnestra, and Polydeuces and he set sail to rescue her sister Helen from Troy.
Castor—although only Helen and Polydeuces are considered While he was gone, Clytemnestra plotted with
to be Zeus’ offspring. Leda is then later deified as Nemesis, the Tantalus’ brother Aegisthus (also her lover)
to take revenge. On his return they killed
goddess of just retribution. In some early versions Leda merely Agamemnon in his bath with an ax, also
finds the egg containing Helen, daughter of Zeus and Nemesis. murdering Cassandra, the Trojan princess he
Wife of a King In this story, Nemesis tries to evade Zeus by shape-shifting, had brought back as his lover. A prophetess,
Leda’s husband, Tyndareus, was a son Cassandra had warned Agamemnon, but it was
of Perseus’ daughter Gorgophone; her
turning from one animal into another in her attempts to escape. her fate never to be believed. Several years later,
father was King Thestius. But Zeus follows suit, trumping each change with his own, until Orestes, to avenge his father’s death, killed his
she finally turns into a goose and he mates with her in the form mother and Aegisthus, a crime of matricide,
which led him to be driven mad by the Furies.
of a swan. She drops her egg in a marsh, where Leda finds it. Alternatively, Zeus, again disguised
as a swan, pretends to be in danger, takes refuge in the bosom of Nemesis and then ravishes Clytemnestra by John Collier (1850–1934)
her. Hermes (Mercury) then throws the egg between Leda’s thighs so that she “gives birth” to it.
Nemesis, with whom Leda is
Leda and the Swan associated, was the daughter of
by Francesco Melzi or Melzo Night, and the goddess of divine
(1493–1570) retribution. She oversaw the
This painting combines Leda’s rape distribution of wealth, looked after
by Zeus in the form of a swan, with balance, avenged arrogance and
the hatching of the two eggs that she punished any excess—even of
laid as a result—“giving birth” to the happiness—that upset the natural
twins Helen and Polydeuces, and balance of the world.
Castor and Clytemnestra. Helen was
to become the cause of a famous ten-
year war between the Trojans and Shape-shifting god
the Greeks (see pp. 62–63). One of the most striking
attributes of Zeus was his ability
to change into any shape he chose.

“andSing,Polydeuces,
O clear-voiced Muse, of Castor
begotten by Olympian
In his seductions or rapes of mortal
women, he often enticed them by
appearing in the form of some
Zeus and born to great Leda beneath the large but seemingly tame animal,
and then overpowered them when
peaks of Taygetos . . . Hail, O Dioscuri, they petted and caressed him.
riders of swift horses!
Homeric Hymn to the Dioscuri
”
Sparta
Deceived by a swan In the background the city of
Leda, approached on the Sparta can be seen, where Leda
banks of a river by a gentle ruled as queen with her husband
swan, realized too late King Tyndareus. Tyndareus
that the bird was merely later made Menelaus, the
Zeus in disguise. The god husband of Leda’s daughter
overpowered and raped her. Helen, his heir.
 Born from an egg Mother of fated girls
Leda laid two eggs as a result of Three of Leda’s daughters—Helen,
her encounter with Zeus, and the Timandra, and Clytemnestra—
four children born from them all became victims of Aphrodite’s
achieved renown. Sources differ as (Venus’) anger when Tyndareus
to the fatherhood of the individual overlooked her when making
children, but generally Helen and sacrifices to the gods. She doomed
Polydeuces are regarded as Zeus’ them to be “twice-married and
children, and Clytemnestra and thrice-married” and bring shame
Castor as the children of Leda’s upon the marriage bed.
husband Tyndareus.

Inseparable twins
After their death, the
Castor and Polydeuces were Dioscuri acquired a semi-
inseparable from birth, divinity and were
even though one was of venerated as the twin or
human parentage, the Gemini constellation.
other, divine. Castor They were especially
was a mighty warrior and
tamer of horses, while
important to the Spartans,
Polydeuces was a great and later, in the fifth
boxer; the only way to tell century bce, to the
them apart was by the Romans. Heroic divinities,
boxing scars on his face. who in life had been
involved in many battles
and adventures, the
Romans believed that they
Helen helped them on the
Helen grew up to be excessively
beautiful and had many suitors.
battlefield.
After she was carried off, at
the age of 12, by Theseus (after
his wife, Phaedra, had died, Columbines
see pp. 56–57) and had been Underfoot grow purple columbines
rescued by her brothers, her representing resolution, or a desire
suitors all swore revenge if to win. They may refer to Zeus’
anyone tried to steal her away determination to make love to Leda.
from her chosen husband. The Latin name for columbine is
Helen married King Menelaus, aquilegia, from the Latin for eagle.
and when she was abducted by It refers to the spur-shaped petals
the Trojan prince Paris (see pp. reminiscent of talons and may be
62–63), her suitors kept their another reference to Zeus, who is often
promise and laid siege to Troy. accompanied by an eagle (see p. 44).

Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra, Helen’s twin sister, was Polydeuces
first married to Tantalus of Pisa, and then A Myth in Tapestry
forcibly married to Menelaus’ brother
Agamemnon (see above).

Castor
Twin Destinies
The twin brothers were known as the Dioscuri (“sons of Zeus”) and,
as Castor and Pollux, became important Roman deities. When Castor
was fatally wounded in a quarrel with their twin cousins Lynceus and
Idas, Polydeuces begged his father Zeus not to let him outlive his brother.
Taken to Olympus, Polydeuces refused to accept his immortality while Castor
remained in the underworld. So they compromised, spending one day on
Olympus and the next in Hades, realm of the dead.
T he story of Leda and the swan was woven in
tapestry by Arachne, who challenged Athena
(Minerva) herself to a weaving competition. While
the goddess wove stories of the fates of presumptuous
mortals, Arachne wove those of divine scandals,
including Zeus’ rapes of Leda, Danaë, and Europa
(see pp. 44-45). Although Arachne’s work equaled her
own, Athena destroyed it, and drove Arachne to hang
herself from shame. At the last moment, the goddess
took pity and cut her down, allowing her to live in
the form of a spider, with her weaving skills intact.

61 •  leda and the swan