Castor and Pollux
Castor[a] and Pollux[b] (or Polydeuces)[c] are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi.[d]
For other uses, see Castor and Pollux (disambiguation).Castor and Pollux
- Dioskouroi (Latin, Dioscuri)
- Gemini
- Castores
- Tyndarids
- Polydeuces (Latin, Pollux)
- The Two Gods
Male
Feast of the Dioskouroi (July 15)
Timandra, Phoebe, Philonoe, Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra
Kastur and Pultuce
Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced (or raped) Leda in the guise of a swan.[2] The pair are thus an example of heteropaternal superfecundation. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.
In Latin, the twins are also known as the Gemini[e] ("twins") or Castores,[f] as well as the Tyndaridae[g] or Tyndarids.[h] Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire. They were also associated with horsemanship, in keeping with their origin as the Indo-European horse twins.
Birth[edit]
There is much contradictory information regarding the parentage of the Dioscuri. In the Homeric Odyssey (11.298–304), they are the sons of Tyndareus alone, but they were sons of Zeus in the Hesiodic Catalogue (fr. 24 M–W). The conventional account (attested first in Pindar, Nemean 10) combined these paternities so that only Pollux was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and her husband Tyndareus conceived Castor. This explains why they were granted an alternate immortality. The figure of Tyndareus may have entered their tradition to explain their archaic name Tindaridai in Spartan inscriptions, or Tyndaridai in literature,[3] in turn occasioning incompatible accounts of their parentage. Their other sisters were Timandra, Phoebe, and Philonoe.
Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. 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 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. Their death and shared immortality offered by Zeus was material of the lost Cypria in the Epic cycle.
The Dioscuri were regarded as helpers of mankind and held to be patrons of travellers and of sailors in particular, who invoked them to seek favourable winds.[4] Their role as horsemen and boxers also led to them being regarded as the patrons of athletes and athletic contests.[5] They characteristically intervened at the moment of crisis, aiding those who honoured or trusted them.[6]
City of Dioscurias[edit]
The ancient city of Dioscurias or Dioskurias (Διοσκουριάς) on the Black Sea coast, modern Sukhumi, was named after them. In addition, according to legend the city was founded by them.[32][33] According to another legend, the city was founded by their charioteers, Amphitus and Cercius of Sparta.[34][35]
Island of Dioscuri[edit]
The island of Socotra, located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, was called by the Greeks Dioskouridou (Διοσκουρίδου νήσος), meaning "the island of the Dioscuri".
Etruscan Kastur and Pultuce[edit]
The Etruscans venerated the twins as Kastur and Pultuce, collectively as the tinas cliniiaras, "Sons of Tinia", Etruscan counterpart of Zeus. They were often portrayed on Etruscan mirrors.[38] As was the fashion in Greece, they could also be portrayed symbolically; one example is seen in the Tomb of the Funereal Bed at Tarquinia where a lectisternium is painted for them. Another is symbolised in a painting depicted as two pointed caps crowned with laurel, referring to the Phrygian caps.[39]