Under the guise of a swan, Zeus managed to get near Leda and had his way with her. In the course of time, Leda bore two eggs: The first egg to hatch contained a baby girl named Helen, famous for being the cause of the Trojan War, and a baby boy called  Polydeuces (Pollux in Roman).

These two were the divine children of Zeus. The second egg then opened up to reveal another girl and boy, Clytemnestra (who later became the wife of Agamemnon, the military leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War) and Castor.

These allegedly were the mortal children of king Tyndareus of Sparta, the legitimate husband of Leda, who had also slept with his wife that night. According to other versions of the myth, both boys were the sons of Zeus and Leda, and were born at the same time with their sister Helen out of an egg. We will ignore that version, however, because it would ruin a good story...

Hence, Polydeuces was immortal, while Castor was subject to old age and death like every other mortal. Despite the fact that one brother was divine and the other quite human, the twins Castor and Pollux grew to be inseparable.

They did everything together and they loved each other dearly. Because they were so close, they were called by one name; the Dioscuri, which means 'sons of Zeus'.

As they were growing, they both loved all kinds of sport. Pollux was particularly good at boxing, while Castor was renowned for his skill in taming and training horses and for his daring on horseback.

When Jason was recruiting the Argonauts to join him in his quest of the Golden Fleece, the Dioscuri eagerly accepted the invitation. During the expedition, they became very popular with their comrades for their ability to calm the rough seas, which once or twice had threatened to capsize their ship Argo.

Poseidon, the god of the seas, had made the twin brothers joint saviors of shipwrecked sailors and granted them the power to send favorable winds whenever they wished.

Another time during a storm, prayers and song to Poseidon were offered and, after the seas had calmed, stars appeared on the heads of the Dioscuri. That's why they are often portrayed in imagery with stars adorning them.

Even to this day, the sight of the stars of the Dioscuri in the sky is regarded by sailors as an omen of good luck.

While still with the Argonauts, upon their arrival in the country of the barbarous Bebryces, Polydeuces fought against their King Amycus, the fearsome, gigantic son of Poseidon, and was the first man to conquer the savage brute. During the same Argonautic expedition the Twins founded the town of Dioscurias.

The brothers also took part in the famous hunt for the Caledonian Boar, a terrible monster sent by goddess Artemis to ravage the region of Calydon in Aetolia. Its King had failed to properly honor her in his offerings to the gods and Artemis punished him by unleashing the Boar onto his kingdom.

The hunt was memorable because it featured a woman, Atalanta, who was the first to critically wound the beast and was therefore awarded its pelt as a prize by a man named Meleager.

That really enraged the sons of Thestios, a couple of benighted misogynists among the acclaimed hunters, who considered it disgraceful that a woman should take part in the Hunt, let alone get the trophy where men were involved. They took the skin from her, saying that it was properly theirs by right of birth, playing the royalty card!

Outraged by this, Meleager first warned them to reconsider, then, when they charged at him with their swords, he cut down the woman-hating sons of Thestios and again gave the skin to Atalanta. Way ahead of his time.

The Dioscuri were celebrated for their expedition against Athens. The famous Athenian prince Theseus - he of the Minotaur fame - had happened to see their sister Helen, at nine years old already the most beautiful mortal woman, and smitten he had carried off the gorgeous girl to the town of Aphidnae.

Theseus intended to hide away the beauty, wait until Helen became of age, then take the young maiden as his wife.

He forgot to first ask her brothers' permission, foolish man! You can't just walk into Sparta, renowned for its fierce warriors, snatch up the finest mortal female, even at nine years old, and expect to get away with it.

The Twins were truly ticked! While Theseus was absent from Attica, Pollux and Castor marched in and ravaged the countryside surrounding the city of Athens.

A man named Academus revealed the location of the kidnapped Helen and told the Dioscuri that Aethra, mother of Theseus, kept their sister confined under her own supervision at Aphidnae.

The Twins wasted no time laying waste to the town, reclaiming Helen and even capturing Aethra as their prisoner.

The Athenians consequently threw open their gates to the Dioscuri, and adopted the warriors as their own sons. The Twins became initiated in the ancient mysteries, and the Athenians paid divine honors befitting the gods to them.

The Twins were captivated by the beauty of the daughters of Leucippus, ultimately carrying them off and wedding them. Pollux married the one called Phoebe, who was a priestess of Athena; Castor's bride was known as Hilaeira or Elaeira, and she was a priestess of Artemis. Pollux fathered two sons, Castor three.

The Dioscuri once conspired in cahoots with the two sons of Aphareus, named Idas and Lynceus, to pilfer a herd of valuable oxen from the region of Arcadia. The arrangement was for Idas to divide the booty four ways following the theft.

Idas cut up a bull into four parts and declared that, whichever of them should be the first to eat his entire share would receive half the looted oxen, while the second would get the other half of the herd.

Gluttonous Idas promptly ate his quarter before the others could give proper grace to Zeus, then quickly devoured his brother Lynceus' quarter portion. The vulgar man then claimed the entire herd for himself and proceeded to drive it home to Messene.

Totally uncool! Is there no honor among thieves? thought the Twins.

The Dioscuri immediately invaded Messene, taking away the herd of oxen corruptly claimed by Idas, and a whole lot more cattle, just to teach him not to mess with them. This led to all-out war between the Dioscuri and the sons of Aphareus.

Castor, the mortal of the two brothers, tragically fell at the hands of Idas during the epic battle, and Pollux retaliated by slaying that man's brother Lynceus. Zeus himself avenged Castor's death by striking down Idas with a flash of lightning.

Pollux was heartbroken at the loss of his brother and prayed to almighty Zeus to take his life as well, for he could not bear to live without Castor. When Zeus then invited Pollux to join him and the rest of the gods on Mount Olympus, he declined, saying that he wouldn't like to live forever, while his beloved brother was dead.

Zeus was so touched by the twin's love and affection for his brother, that he arranged for them to be together again. They could divide their time between the heavens and the Underworld, spending one day high up in Olympus and the next day beneath the earth, in the realm of Hades.

In further recognition of their brotherly love, he set their images among the stars as the constellation of Gemini, so that they would never again be separated. They stand out as two equally bright stars in a constellation of weaker stars, joining the honored and exalted Little Animals in a Circle.

ZODIAC

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