Editing Castor and Pollux (section)

==Classical sources==
[[Image:Kastor Niobid krater Louvre G341.jpg|upright|thumb|Castor on a [[calyx krater]] of {{Circa|460–450 BC}}, holding a horse's reins and spears and wearing a [[pilos]]-style helmet]]

Ancient Greek authors tell a number of versions of the story of Castor and Pollux. [[Homer]] portrays them initially as ordinary mortals, treating them as dead in the ''[[Iliad]]'':
: "...&nbsp;there are two commanders I do not see,
: Castor the horse breaker and the boxer
: Polydeuces<!--same name as Pollux-->, my brothers&nbsp;..."
:::: – [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], ''Iliad''<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |at=[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16452/16452-h/16452-h.htm#page_074 3.253–e.255] |via=gutenberg.org }}</ref>
but in the ''[[Odyssey]]'' they are described as both being alive, even though "the grain-bearing earth holds them". The author describes them as "having honour equal to gods", living on alternate days because of the intervention of Zeus. In both the ''Odyssey'' and in [[Hesiod]], they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In [[Pindar]], Pollux is the son of Zeus, while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus. The theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux; similar characterisations appear in the stories of [[Herakles]] and [[Theseus]].<ref name=Parker>{{cite dictionary |first = Robert Christopher Towneley |last = Parker  |year = 2003 |title = Dioscuri |dictionary = The Oxford Classical Dictionary |editor1-first = Simon |editor1-last = Hornblower |editor2-first = Anthony |editor2-last = Spawforth |publisher = Oxford University Press |place = Oxford, UK }}</ref> The Dioscuri are also invoked in [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]]' fragment&nbsp;34a,<ref>{{cite book |author = Alcæus of Mytilene |author-link = Alcaeus |year=1982 |title = Sappho, Alcaeus: Greek lyric |volume=I: Sappho and Alcaeus |section = Fragment&nbsp;34  |editor-first = David A. |editor-last = Campbell |doi=10.4159/DLCL.sappho_alcaeus_lyric_poet-fragments.1982 |section-url = https://www.loebclassics.com/view/alcaeus-fragments/1982/pb_LCL142.247.xml |quote = ''Incertum utrius auctoris fragmenta'' }}</ref> though whether this poem antedates the Homeric Hymn to the twins<ref>{{cite AV media |title = Homeric hymn number&nbsp;3 |medium = song lyrics |website = Theoi.com |url = http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns3.html#33 }}</ref> is unknown.<ref name= Campbell>{{cite book |first = David |last = Campbell  |year = 1967 |title = Greek Lyric Poetry |place = Bristol, UK |publisher = Classical Press }}</ref> They appear together in two plays by [[Euripides]], ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' and ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Elektra]]''.

[[Cicero]] tells the story of how [[Simonides of Ceos]] was rebuked by Scopas, his patron, for devoting too much space to praising Castor and Pollux in an ode celebrating Scopas' victory in a [[chariot race]]. Shortly afterwards, Simonides was told that two young men wished to speak to him; after he had left the banqueting room, the roof fell in and crushed Scopas and his guests.<ref name=Roberts/>

According to the ancient sources the horse of Castor was named ''Cyllarus''.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=William |editor-last=Smith |year=1873 |orig-year=1848 |section=Cyllarus |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |place=London, UK |publisher=John Murray |section-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D41%3Aentry%3Dcyllarus-bio-1 |via=[[Tufts University]] perseus.tufts.edu }}</ref>

[[File:Boiotian proxeny decree with relief of Athena and Dioskouroi (Boston MFA 1987.297).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Boeotian]] [[proxeny]] stele depicting baby [[Herakles]] strangling snakes (top), and [[Athena Alea]] and the ''Dioskouroi'' above a warship (369–363 {{sc|BCE}})]]