Leda and the Swan, 16th-century copy after the lost painting by Michelangelo

Leda with the Swan, by Correggio

In Greek mythology, Leda (Λήδα) was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus, of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan. She was the mother of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux. Image File history File links Leda. ... Image File history File links Leda. ... Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 757 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2024 × 1603 pixel, file size: 221 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 757 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2024 × 1603 pixel, file size: 221 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Antonio Allegri da Correggio. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... The ancient Region of Aetolia, Greece Aetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. ... In Greek mythology, Thestius was the son of either Ares and Demonice, or Agenor (son of Pleuron son of Aetolus) by Epicasta. ... In Greek mythology, Tyndareus (or Tyndareos) was a Spartan king, son of Oebalus (or Perieres) and Gorgophone (or Bateia), husband of Leda and father of Helen, Polydeuces (Pollux), Castor, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe and Philonoe. ... Sparta (Doric: Spártā, Attic: SpártÄ“) is a city in southern Greece. ... Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. ... // This article is about the mythological figure Helen of Troy. ... After the murder (1882 painting) Clytemnestra (or Clytaemestra) ‘‘(Eng. ... The Gemini or Gemini twins, known in Roman mythology as Castor and Pollux and in Greek as Kastor and Polydeuces, are the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ...

Leda was loved by Zeus, who seduced her in the guise of a swan. As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle. Their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen—later known as the beautiful Helen Of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux (also known as the Dioscuri—also spelled Kastor and Polydeuces). Which children are the progeny of Tyndareus, the mortal king, and which are of Zeus, and are thus half-immortal, is not consistent among accounts, nor is which child hatched from which egg. The split is almost always half mortal, half divine, although the pairings do not always reflect the children's heritage pairings. Castor and Polydeuces are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Polydeuces. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th century engraving Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Zeús, genitive: Diós), is... Species 6-7 living, see text. ... // This article is about the mythological figure Helen of Troy. ... After the murder (1882 painting) Clytemnestra (or Clytaemestra) ‘‘(Eng. ... The Gemini or Gemini twins, known in Roman mythology as Castor and Pollux and in Greek as Kastor and Polydeuces, are the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux), were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ...

Leda with the Swan, Museo del Prado

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. The consensus is that Helen and Polydeuces were the immortal children of Zeus, while Castor and Clytemnestra were the mortal children of Tyndareus. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 359 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1159 × 1937 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 359 × 600 pixels Full resolution (1159 × 1937 pixel, file size: 1. ... Bold text The Museo del Prado is a famous museum and art gallery located in Madrid; the capital of Spain. ...

Leda also had other daughters by Tyndareus: Timandra, Phoebe, Philonoe. Categories: | ... // Phoebe critchley or Phebe may refer to: Phoebe (Name), a feminine name Latinized form of the Greek name Φοιβη (Phoibe), which meant bright, pure from Greek φοιβος (phoibos). ... In Greek mythology, there were two women known as Philonoe. ...

Leda, by Gustave Moreau

Another account of the myth states that Nemesis was the mother of Helen, and was also impregnated by Zeus in the guise of a swan. A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who carefully kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter. Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen by creating the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, in the sky. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 565 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (579 × 614 pixel, file size: 106 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Gustave Moreau: Leda, 1865-1875 - Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 565 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (579 × 614 pixel, file size: 106 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Gustave Moreau: Leda, 1865-1875 - Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to... Self portrait of Gustav Moreau, 1850 Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 – April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Cygnus (Latin for swan) is a northern constellation. ...

Leda and the swan and Leda and the egg were popular subjects in the ancient art. In the postclassical arts, it became a potent source of inspiration.

See also Leda and the Swan for the motif in the visual arts and the poem by William Yeats. Leda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology, in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. ... William Butler Yeats, 1933 photograph, author unknown. ...

References

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Leda

• March, J., Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology, London, 1999. ISBN 0-304-35161-X
• Peck, H., Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898.