Leda
Leda was the queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan and bore two eggs — from which hatched Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, and Pollux.
The Legend of Leda
Wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, Leda was visited by Zeus in the form of a swan. She bore two eggs: from one hatched Helen and Pollux (Zeus's divine children), from the other Clytemnestra and Castor (Tyndareus's mortal offspring). Helen's beauty launched the Trojan War; Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon at Mycenae. The Dioscuri — Castor and Pollux — sailed with Jason and rescued Helen from Theseus. Leda's union with Zeus thus produced the central figures of two great mythic cycles, and Hermes carried the consequences across the mortal world.
Parents
Thestius and Eurythemis
Children
Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux
Symbols
Fun Fact
Yeats's "Leda and the Swan" asks whether Leda gained Zeus's knowledge at the moment of union — "Did she put on his knowledge with his power?"
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Cycnus of Liguria
🗡 heroGrief, Transformation, Swan
Ligurian king and kinsman of Phaethon transformed into a swan while mourning along the river Eridanus.
Alcmene
🗡 heroMother of Heracles
Alcmene was the mortal woman whom Zeus seduced by disguising himself as her husband — she bore Heracles, the greatest hero of Greek mythology.
Paris
🗡 heroPrince who caused the Trojan War
Paris was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the Trojan War — the most consequential act of desire in Western mythology.
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Tyro
🗡 herolove
Beautiful princess who fell in love with the river god Enipeus, only to be seduced by Poseidon disguised as the river.
Helen of Troy
🗡 heroFace that launched a thousand ships
The most beautiful woman in the ancient world — daughter of Zeus, wife of Menelaus, whose elopement with Paris launched the Trojan War and a thousand ships.
Alcyone
🗡 heroLove, transformation, birds
Queen of Trachis who was transformed into a kingfisher bird alongside her devoted husband Ceyx
Hypsipyle
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Lemnos who saved her father when the women of the island murdered every other man, later becoming the lover of Jason during the Argonauts' voyage
Oreithyia
🗡 heroabduction
Athenian princess abducted by the North Wind Boreas, mother of the winged Argonauts Zetes and Calais.
Semele
🗡 heroMortal mother of Dionysus
Semele was a Theban princess who became the mortal mother of Dionysus — destroyed when she insisted on seeing Zeus in his true divine form.
Anaxibia
🗡 heroMarriage, royalty
Mycenaean princess who married Strophius of Phocis and raised the young Orestes in secret
Cassiopeia
🗡 heroNone recorded
Vain queen of Aethiopia whose boast brought a sea monster upon her kingdom