Castor and Pollux
(A.K.A.
The Dioscuri)
Why hello
again! I guess you guys just can't get enough of all of this
gossip in Zeus' Hidden Lair! I have to tell you, this next bit of
gossip I'm going to tell you is about the Dioscuri, also known as
Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of the queen of Sparta, Leda.
These two boys had two
different fathers: Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, and Zeus (whom
you already know as a man whore). It doesn't seem plausible for
such a birth to occur, but as I'm sure you've noticed with the rest of
these gods and goddesses, Castor and Pollux aren't the most normal of
folk.
Here, I'll start at the beginning, but we don't have much time...
Castor and Pollux's mother was Leda, who was married to King Tyndareus
of Sparta. Zeus also had quite an eye for Leda (surprise, he can
never keep
it in his pants!), and as I'm sure you know, Zeus
always
gets what he wants. One night after Leda and Tyndareus had just
gotten frisky in the bedroom, Zeus descended from the heavens in the
form of a swan and he, too, got what he wanted out of Queen Leda.
As the legend goes, because Zeus came to her in the form of a swan,
Leda gave birth to her children in the form of bird's eggs. In
one egg (the one fathered by Zeus himself) were Pollux and Helen (whom
I'm sure you know as Helen of Troy) and Castor and their other sister
Clytaemnestra (you know, the nut case who murdered her husband
Agamemnon) were in the
other egg. Due to their different fathers, Pollux was immortal,
having been the son of Zeus, while Castor was mortal because he was the
son of the mortal Tyndareus.
As Castor and Pollux grew up, they became inseparable, and you would
never have known that they were born to different fathers. They
were both notorious for their hunting and horse riding skills. So
notorious, in fact, that the hero Jason asked them to join his crew
(a.k.a. the Argonauts) on his ship Argo in the quest for the Golden
Fleece. With the Golden Fleece (the wool of a winged ram named
Chrysomallos) in his possession, Jason would receive his rightful
inheritance: the kingdom of Lolcus in Thessaly, Greece.
While on this
journey, Pollux got in a fight with Amycus, King of Bebryces (a band of
really creepy, mythical people) and killed him! (Pollux always
tries to start bar-room brawls in Zeus' Hidden Lair, and I, of
course, always have to break them up!) When they were done with
their journey on the Argo, the Dioscuri helped Jason seek revenge on
King Pelias, who had stolen the kingdom from Jason to begin with.
Whenever Castor and Pollux bring their sister Helen in here, there is
always mayhem! A long time ago, when the Greek king Theseus
abducted Helen, the Dioscuri were irate, and rightfully so! Their
solution? They invaded Theseus' kingdom, and
kidnapped Theseus' mother Aethra in the process as a form of
revenge! Castor and Pollux forced Aethra to be Helen's maid for
quite a while. (She was returned home after the fall of Troy, but
that is a completely different story, and I don't want to get too far
off track!)
Castor and Pollux
eventually fell in love with the daughters of their
uncle Leucippus, Phoebe and Hilaeira, even though the two ladies were
already betrothed to two men named Lynceus and Idas. (The
Dioscuri are always MOONING over their long lost loves, and believe me,
it gets quite annoying when they start bawling on my shoulder!)
Ignoring this tiny obstacle, Castor and Pollux carried Phoebe and
Hilaeira off to Sparta where they wed and made babies: Pollux had
one son with his wife Phoebe, and Castor had one with his wife
Hilaeira. The
whole wedding situation caused quite a dispute between the Dioscuri and
Lynceus and Idas. The rival pairs promised to divide the cattle
they had been sharing evenly, but when Lynceus and Idas cheated, all
hell broke loose! The Dioscuri tried to herd the cattle all back
to Sparta, while Lynceas and Idas followed. Idas eventually
killed Castor with a spear, but ol' Zeus got his revenge by shooting a
thunderbolt from heaven, striking Idas down dead. Pollux
also killed Lynceus in this gorey process.
Pollux was so upset about the death of his brother and bestie Castor,
so Zeus gave him an ultimatum: Pollux could either live in the
heavens, or he could share his immortality with his brother, giving
them the chance to spend some days in the heavens and some on
earth. Of course, Pollux wasn't selfish and chose to give some of
his immortality to Castor! (And thank goodness, or we wouldn't
have all of this juicy gossip today!)
Author's
Note: There are different versions of the birth of
Castor and Pollux, but I chose the one where Queen Leda gave birth to
them in the form of birds' eggs. I thought it made sense since
Zeus came down from the heavens in the form of a swan in order to
seduce Leda. As with my other stories, the narrator is Ganymede,
who tells the stories in a lighthearted, nonchalant tone so the feats
of each god or goddess seems somewhat easy or unimportant.
The original story depicts the Calydonian Boar Hunt that Castor and
Pollux partook in, which I did not include. The original story
also ended by explaining the constellations that are now Castor and
Pollux, called Gemini, which is the Greek word meaning "twins," but I
didn't think it was pertinent to include this
fact in my story. My story is also a lot longer than the original
one that I read, which in my opinion makes it a lot more
interesting and gives Ganymede more room to share his opinions!
Image Information:
Picture of Dioscuri naked. Web Source: Liturgical
Calendar.
Picture of Leda and Zeus as a swan. Web Source: Wikipedia.
Picture of the
Dioscuri abducting their wives. Web Source: 'I
Smell Therefore I Am' Blog.
Sources:
"Castor and Pollux." Web Source: Wikipedia.
"Dioscuri." Web Source: Greek
Mythology Link.
