[hooligan]

There are two main stories about the birth of Helen. The first story is that of Leda and the swan. As the story goes Zeus saw the beautiful woman Leda, daughter of Thestius and the wife of Tyndareus, and had to have her. Zeus, ever cautious to disguise his affairs, appeared to her in the form of a swan. He seduced her. That same night she is also bedded by her husband Tyndareus.

Tyndareus was the king of Sparta and brother to Hippocoon and Icarius (father of Penelope, Odysseus' wife). In an earlier incident Hippocoon usurped the throne of Sparta and banished his brothers. Heracles who was at the time warring against the Lacedaemonians (area around the city of Sparta) and had a grudge against Hippocoon for killing a friend of his, Oeonus, allied himself with King Cepheus of Tegea. This king was initially reluctant to go to war against Sparta, but Heracles provided a lock of Medusa's hair (a gift from Athena) to help protect Tegea. In the resulting battle both kings, Hippocoon and Cepheus, are killed. After the battle, Heracles restores Tyndareus to the throne of Sparta.

From the union of Zeus and Leda and from the union Tyndareus and Leda two eggs resulted from which two sets of twins were born. The two boys were Castor and Polydeuces (Castor and Pollux in Roman myth, the Gemini or Dioscori who are immortalized in the heavens by Zeus) and the girls were Helen and Clytemnestra. Helen and Polydeuces were thought to be the children of Zeus (and thus immortals) and Castor and Clytemnestra were the children of Tyndareus (and therefore mortal).

The Dioscori are two figures who appear in many stories. They were Argonauts and participated in the search for the Golden Fleece. They are referred to as the Horseman and the Boxer. They kidnapped the two Leukippides (White-Horse Maidens), Phoibe (Lunar Bright) and Hilaeira (Softly Shining). The girls’ husbands-to-be, Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus from Messene, were none too pleased about this and chased the Dioscori. In the resulting battle Castor killed Lynceus, then Idas killed Castor, and then Polydeuces killed Idas. Zeus then felt bad for his children and granted a special type of immortality to the twins. Polydeuces who was already immortal agreed to sacrifice half his immortality for his brother. As a result the two shared immortality, each being immortal every other day, thus it is said that their twin stars shine on opposite days. Poseidon further granted them power to help those lost at sea. They manifest this power through St. Elmo’s fire. Their wives where also granted immortality.

The other story of Helens birth is a little simpler. In this story Nemesis, goddess of retribution, is pursued by Zeus. Nemesis tries to get away from him by fleeing across the globe. As she flees she is transforming herself into various quick animals to try an elude him. In the end she transformed into a goose, but Zeus countered by becoming a swan. In these forms Zeus impregnates the goddess. Nine months later she gives birth to an egg which she then discards or gives to Hermes. Somehow Leda ends up with the egg and when it hatches, Helen is born.

[Drake]

You know, it may just be me, but think Nemesis was the shit. I mean sure she was vengeful but what woman isn't?

Drake

[hooligan]

Leda and the Swan was a favorite motif for Renaissance artists...

Leonardo Da Vinci's


Michelangelo's

[hooligan]

Here is an image of Castor and Polydeuces...



Castor is with the horse in the middle, and Polydeuces is on the left feeding the dog.

If you want to see better detail...
Link to full sized image

This is the reverse side of my favorite vase. The other side is Ajax and Achilles playing a board game, killing time between battles. I will post that when I cover them later on. The vase dates from circa 550 BCE and is a "black figure" style amphora.

As a historical note, vases are extremely significant to our understanding of the history of ancient Greece. Because of how styles and techniques changed through the years, it is possible by using only fragments of clay to get a very accurate date of an archeological site. A chronology of the changes in pottery style has also help date sites of areas which traded with Greece, and thus has helped our understanding of all Mediterranean history.

What is also so interesting about the vases is that it is possible to look at them and see exactly how people where dressing, what their weapons were, and what daily life was like, etc. Because there is such a great volume of pottery remaining from this period (referred to as the Archaic Period) and other periods we are able to form a fairly complete picture of what it was to be a Greek in the 6th century BCE.