Leda

Mortal queen of Sparta; wife of Tyndareus. Visited by Zeus in the form of a swan; produced heteropaternal twins — Helen and Pollux divine-fathered, Castor and Clytemnestra mortal-fathered. The egg-birth tradition has Helen and Pollux hatch from one egg.

Children

• Castor
• Clytemnestra
• Helen
• Pollux

Relations

• spouse: TyndareusApollod. 3.10.7 (primary)
• lover: ZeusVisited by Zeus in the form of a swan; same-night union with Tyndareus produced heteropaternal twins (Helen and Pollux by Zeus, Castor and Clytemnestra by Tyndareus).Cypria fr. 6; Eur. Hel. 16-22; Apollod. 3.10.7 (primary)
• mother of: HelenHom. Il. 3.426; Apollod. 3.10.7 (primary)
• mother of: PolluxCypria fr. 6; Apollod. 3.10.7 (primary)
• mother of: CastorApollod. 3.10.7 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Homer Iliad 3.426, Odyssey 11.298-300; Cypria fr. 6; Euripides Helen 16-22; Apollodorus 3.10.6-7 (primary)