Alright, its Hunter Powell back with y’all sharing another mythological story based off our last field trip.

On our previous field trip (yesterday, Tuesday the 18th) we visited two museums: the Archaeological Museum of the Paphos District and Aphrodite’s Sanctuary. There is one piece of art at both museums that I want to write about. These would be a bust of Castor, one of the Dioscuri twins, (Archaeological Museum) and a mosaic of Leda and the Swan (Aphrodite’s Sanctuary).

Firstly, the bust of Castor:

Castor was the son of Leda and the king, Tyndareus. His twin sister was Clytemnestra, which some of you may recognize as the wife of Agamemnon. These siblings also had another set of twins, whose father was Zeus. Technically these four were born at the same time, making them quadruplets. These two are Pollux (Polydeuces) and Helen of Troy. Yes, that’s correct: the Dioscuri twins are directly related to Clytemnestra and Helen. There are many myths regarding the Dioscuri twins and many contradict each other. In one myth, as Castor lay dying, Pollux begged Zeus to share his immortality with Castor. Zeus kept this promise by placing them in the stars as the constellation Gemini (which is also their Roman name). This is somewhat contradicted in the Iliad when Helen gazes on the approaching Achaean army and notes, “‘…but two I cannot find, and they’re captains of the armies, Castor breaker of horses and the hardy boxer Polydeuces. My blood brothers. Mother bore them both. Perhaps they never crossed over from Lacedaemon’s lovely hills or come they did, sailing here in the deep-sea ships, but now they refuse to join the men in battle, dreading the scorn, the curses hurled at me…’ So she wavered, but the earth already held them fast, long dead in the life-giving earth of Lacedaemon, the dear land of their fathers.” This implies that both Castor and Pollux were mortal as they are both deceased. Other important myths place them in the legendary group of Jason’s argonauts. They were considered to be the patrons of sailors and athletes. They also assissted in the hunt of the Calydonian Boar.

Secondly, the mosaic of Leda and the Swan:

As stated above, Leda is the mother of Castor, Polydeuces, Helen, and Clytemnestra. The swan in this mosaic is Zeus. Myths state that Zeus appeared to Leda as a swan. While some myths portray the births of the quadruplets as a normal birth, some portray them as being laid in eggs. It is clear that both pieces of art written about in this post are connected.

Anyways, I just wanted to share these pieces and a little about their mythological relevance!

Thanks for reading!