Dioscure, statue Roman 's late ^fourth century , place du Capitole , Rome

In Greek mythology , Castor (in ancient Greek / and Pollux ( / called the Dioscuri ( / that is to say "son of Zeus ") are the twin son Leda. Their sisters Helen and Clytemnestra.

They take part in hunting wild boar of Calydon and shipping of the Argonauts. They fight Theseus to retrieve their sister Helen that it was delighted to turn and remove the girls from Leucippus.

Avatar Greek figure Indo-European gods twins, Castor and Pollux are the symbol of the young men capable of bearing arms. They appear as saviors in desperate situations and are the protectors of sailors. The fire of St. Elmo is considered their physical manifestation, they are associated with the constellation of Gemini.

Myth

Birth

The Dioscuri are already in the Iliad , which names "Castor, the tamer of horses, and Pollux, the boxer .

Conversely, they are both the son of Zeus in the Catalogue of Women of the pseudo- Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns , which the hymn addressed to them qualifies them for the first time "Dioscuri" . The Chants Cyprians introduce the pattern in which Castor and Pollux immortal is mortal .

The most common legend states that their mother Leda, who would be united with Zeus transformed into a swan, had laid two eggs, one containing Helen and Pollux, the son of Zeus and a second container Castor and Clytemnestra, descendants of Tyndarus. These are mere mortals, while these are demi-gods .

Adventures

The Dioscuri are involved in hunting wild boar of Calydon and shipping of the Argonauts. They fight Theseus to retrieve their sister Helen that it was removed. They kidnap girls Leucippus , Phoebe and Hilaire , following which a battle is waged against the brothers and Idas Lynceus. These are killed, as Castor.

Death

The Dioscuri are both dead when starting the Trojan War , which explains why they do not participate .

The majority version of the myth, in which the twins have a special destiny, is the first time in the Odyssey. During Nekuia, Odysseus meets them underground where:

"They are both living in the fertile soil;
But even down here, Zeus with honors;
Two day one, they are alive and dead-turn
And are rewarded the same honors as gods. " .

Alcman evokes a magic sleep, along with Menelaus , in the sanctuary of Thrapn in Laconia , in Pindar, the twins spend a day under the earth Thrapn, the other alongside Zeus on Olympus .

Indeed, depending on the version that makes a mortal Castor and Pollux a demigod, the latter at his death, his father sees him offering immortality, but he refuses her brother Castor continues to Hell because his state of death. King of the Gods offers him to stay on alternate days in Hell with Castor and on alternate days on Olympus also with him (other versions offer shared six months in each place, which is not reminiscent of the myth of Persephone abducted by Hades , who shares his time between his mother and her husband, and the legend of Adonis ) .

Worship

The cult of the Dioscuri cult drift Indo-European divine twins, and they are similar to Asvin, riders of the celestial Vedic mythology .

Constallation identified in Gemini, Castor and Pollux are the patrons of seafarers . In Athens , they bear the name of Anak or Anaktes , that is to say, "nobles" , their temple is Anakeion. They are a couple important pantheon of the Great Gods of Samothrace , where they take the name of (Kabiri).

With Sparta

Castor, tamer of horses. Crater Niobides, v. 460 - 450 BC. BC , Louvre (G 341)

Their main place of worship is Sparta and the nearby town of Thrapn. Pindar calls the "stewards of Sparta" . They are the model and the guarantee of the Royal diarchy . They protect the civic army, which always starts the campaign with / Dokan, a set of two sticks bound together to represent them . When one of the two remaining kings in Sparta, one of the Dioscuri also remains backward .

They are revered in the Theoxena: we prepare for them a table and a sofa with two cushions and two jars containing a mixture of grains. The room is then closed to allow Dioscuri take their food. Reliefs and vases are appearing in the air, mounted on horses, over the banquet . They are also depicted with snakes coiled around amphorae .

Their appearances are numerous. They are evident in King Lysander before the battle of Aigos-Potamos , it then combines to Zeus, Artemis and Apollo in his ex-voto of thanks to Delphi . Pausanias relates many of their miracles. One day they were as strangers in their former home and ask Spartan hospitality. The master of the house are denied their old room, occupied by the girl's house - the next day it disappeared, but found the room in the effigy of the Dioscuri . During the second war of Messinia , their ghosts and that of Helen thwart the attempt to attack Sparta Messenians night . During the same war, two young Messenians Dioscuri disguise themselves, go to the festivities in honor of Spartan divine twins and enjoying the adoration they inspire, slay the faithful. As punishment for this sacrilege, the Dioscuri Messenians continue their anger and do not allow them to regain their land before the days of Epaminondas .

In Rome

Remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum

The cult of Castor and Pollux also appears to Tusculum and Rome.

In 484 BC. AD , the Romans their building a temple on the Roman Forum , in gratitude for the victory of Lake Regillus . According to legend, the Dioscuri were involved in the fight in person, under the appearance of large and beautiful horse, and then announced themselves on the Forum Roman victory .

Their name is often used in curses, that of Castor reserved for women.

Artistic representations

They are shown wearing a white tunic, a cloak and purple pilos, a conical hat in the shape of half an egg and recalls the circumstances of their birth . They are often in the company of horses Xanthus and Cyllare , as in the famous group, which currently oversees Capitol Square in Rome.

They appear on the trunk of Cypselus surrounding Helena, with Aethra lying on the ground at their feet, an inscription reads: "The Tyndarides emmnent kidnap Helen and Aethra Athens . They are also found in representations of different episodes in the quest of the Argonauts, as the metopes of the Treasury of Sicyon at Delphi . They are on the crater Niobides, which represents perhaps the departure of the Argonauts, Castor pilos bearing and holding the bridle of a horse, Pollux holding a stick, pilos worn around the neck by a belt and a coat on arm . Finally, the abduction of Leucippides is represented on a bronze relief in the temple of Athena Chalkioikos ("home bronze") and on the throne of Apollo at Amyclae .

Jean-Philippe Rameau devotes a tragic opera , Castor and Pollux.

In the song " The Big Chill , " Georges Brassens alludes to the mythical twins.

Reference

In the film Turnaround of John Woo , the two brothers Castor and Pollux Troy are called in reference to two characters from mythology.

Notes

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