Leda and the Swan, 16th-century copy after the lost painting by Michelangelo

Leda with the Swan, by Correggio

In Greek mythology, Leda (Λήδα) was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus, of Sparta. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania For the Butterfly Genus, see Thestius (butterfly. In Greek mythology, Thestius was the son of either In Greek mythology, Tyndareus Τυνδαρεύς (or Tyndareos Τυνδάρεως) was a Spartan king son of Oebalus The city of Sparta ( Doric Σπάρτα Attic Σπάρτη Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan. Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a Swan. She was the mother of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux. This article is about the mythological figure Helen of Troy For other uses see Helen (disambiguation and Helen of Troy (disambiguation. Clytemnestra (or Clytaemnestra (Eng /klaɪtəm'nɛstɹə/ Greek: Klytaimnéstra, "famed for her suitors" was the wife of Agamemnon, king For the stars see Castor (star and Pollux (star, for the sculptural group in the Prado Museum, see Castor and Pollux (Prado, and for

Leda was admired by Zeus, who raped her in the guise of a swan. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Swans are Birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and Ducks Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle. Their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen—later known as the beautiful Helen Of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux (also known as the Dioscuri—also spelled Kastor and Polydeuces). This article is about the mythological figure Helen of Troy For other uses see Helen (disambiguation and Helen of Troy (disambiguation. Clytemnestra (or Clytaemnestra (Eng /klaɪtəm'nɛstɹə/ Greek: Klytaimnéstra, "famed for her suitors" was the wife of Agamemnon, king For the stars see Castor (star and Pollux (star, for the sculptural group in the Prado Museum, see Castor and Pollux (Prado, and for For the stars see Castor (star and Pollux (star, for the sculptural group in the Prado Museum, see Castor and Pollux (Prado, and for Which children are the progeny of Tyndareus, the mortal king, and which are of Zeus, and are thus half-immortal, is not consistent among accounts, nor is which child hatched from which egg. The split is almost always half mortal, half divine, although the pairings do not always reflect the children's heritage pairings. 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.

Leda with the Swan, Museo del Prado

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 Museo del Prado is a Museum and Art gallery located in Madrid, the capital of Spain. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. The consensus is that Helen and Polydeuces were the immortal children of Zeus, while Castor and Clytemnestra were the mortal children of Tyndareus.

Leda also had other daughters by Tyndareus: Timandra, Phoebe, Philonoe. In Greek mythology, Timandra (Τιμάνδρα was one of the daughters of Leda and Tyndareus. In Greek mythology, there were two women known as Philonoe. Daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and Leda.

Leda, by Gustave Moreau

Another account of the myth states that Nemesis was the mother of Helen, and was also impregnated by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Gustave Moreau ( April 6, 1826 &ndash April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter. Nemesis (in Greek,) also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia ("the Goddess of Rhamnous " at her sanctuary at A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who carefully kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter. Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen by creating the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, in the sky. Cygnus (ˈsɪgnəs Swan, Κύκνος) is a northern Constellation.

Leda and the swan and Leda and the egg were popular subjects in the ancient art. In the postclassical arts, it became a potent source of inspiration.

See also Leda and the Swan for the motif in the visual arts and the poem by William Butler Yeats. Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a Swan.

References

• March, J. , Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology, London, 1999. ISBN 0-304-35161-X
• Peck, H. , Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898.