Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. 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 Leda in the guise of a swan… Both Dioscuri were excellent horsemen and hunters who participated in the hunting of the Calydonian Boar and later joined the crew of Jason’s ship, the Argo. During the expedition of the Argonauts, Pollux took part in a boxing contest and defeated King Amycus of the Bebryces, a savage mythical people in Bithynia. After returning from the voyage, the Dioscuri helped Jason and Peleus to destroy the city of Iolcus in revenge for the treachery of its king Pelias.
Appearance List Literature: Homer’s Odyssey (mentioned, c. 8th century BCE, English 1614), Homer’s Iliad (mentioned, c. 8th century BC), Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BCE), Medea by Euripides (431 BC), poetry by Appolonius, Diodorus, Valerius, Apollodorus, Ptolemy, Pausanias, Hyginus, Tzetzes, Apollonius of Rhodes’ epic poem Argonautica (late 3rd century BC), The Argonautica by Gaius Valerius Flaccus (late 1st century AD), Argonautica Orphica, Dante’s Divine Comedy (briefly, 1308–1320), William Morris’ epic poem The Life and Death of Jason (1867). Film: Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
Description Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. 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 Leda in the guise of a swan… Both Dioscuri were excellent horsemen and hunters who participated in the hunting of the Calydonian Boar and later joined the crew of Jason’s ship, the Argo. During the expedition of the Argonauts, Pollux took part in a boxing contest and defeated King Amycus of the Bebryces, a savage mythical people in Bithynia. After returning from the voyage, the Dioscuri helped Jason and Peleus to destroy the city of Iolcus in revenge for the treachery of its king Pelias.
