Leda and the Constellation Cygnus

Leonardo da Vinci: "Leda and Her Two Sons Castor and Pollux." Pollux is the Latin version of Polydeuces. Castor was the son of Leda and her husband Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Painting (c.XV-XVI century). Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy. Click on image for full size (110K GIF) Image courtesy of PhotoDisc, Inc.

After numerous attempts to conquer Leda's love, Zeus changed himself into a white swan. The swan was magnificent and Leda fell in love with him. Leda then delivered a blue egg.

When the egg was hatched, two lovely children came out of it: Polydeuces and the beautiful Helen who later became famous as Helen of Troy. The constellation Cygnus was then formed to celebrate the lovely swan.

Leonardo da Vinci: "Leda and Her Two Sons Castor and Pollux." Pollux is the Latin version of Polydeuces. Castor was the son of Leda and her husband Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Painting (c.XV-XVI century). Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy. Click on image for full size (110K GIF) Image courtesy of PhotoDisc, Inc.

The goddess became pregnant, delivered an egg and then abandoned it. Fortunately, a shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. From that egg came Helen of Troy. Helen was so beautiful that Leda claimed her as her own child.

The constellation Cygnus was formed to celebrate the lovely swan. According to another version of the myth, Zeus transformed himself into a swan to court Leda, the queen of Sparta. and from that relationship, Leda had two children: Polydeuces and Helen.

Leonardo da Vinci: "Leda and Her Two Sons Castor and Pollux." Pollux is the Latin version of Polydeuces. Castor was the son of Leda and her husband Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Painting (c.XV-XVI century). Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy. Click on image for full size (110K GIF) Image courtesy of PhotoDisc, Inc.

Others tell the story of Cycnus, the son of Apollo and Hyria. Cycnus was a very handsome young man. However, Cycnus was hard-hearted with those who loved him. He was so capricious that all his lovers and friends grew tired of his whims and abandoned him. Only Phylius remained loyal to him.

Cycnus ordered Phylius to perform several different tasks to demonstrate his love. First, Phylius had first to kill a lion without using an iron weapon. Then he had to capture (alive) ferocious man-eating birds. Finally, he had to lead a bull to the altar of Zeus with his own hands. Phylius succeeded in all these tasks with courage and love.

However, Cycnus'requests went on and on. Phylius'patience was exhausted. He decided to stop indulging Cycnus and abandoned him. Cycnus, desperate, drowned himself in a lake, now called the Cycnean Lake. Following Cycnus'death, his mother Hyria threw herself into the same lake. Apollo then transformed his wife and son into swans, whose shapes can now be recognized among the stars.