Editing Leda (mythology)

{{short description|Greek mythological Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen}}
{{Other uses of|Leda|Leda (disambiguation){{!}}Leda}}
{{more footnotes needed|date = May 2016}}
[[File:Leda and the Swan, Pompeian fresco.jpg|thumb|''Leda and the Swan'', ancient fresco from [[Pompeii]]]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Leda''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|iː|d|ə|,_|ˈ|l|eɪ|-}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Λήδα {{IPA|el|lɛ́ːdaː|}}) was an [[Aetolian]] princess who became a [[Sparta]]n queen. According to [[Ovid]], she was famed for her beautiful black hair and snowy skin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ovid |url=https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/AmoresBkII.php#anchor_Toc520535836 |title=The Amores. Book II Elegy IV}}</ref> Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in [[Renaissance]] and later art of [[Leda and the Swan]].

== Family ==
[[File:Da michelangelo, leda e il cigno, post 1530 (national gallery) 01.jpg|thumb|right|''Leda and the Swan'', 16th-century copy after [[Leda and the Swan (Michelangelo)|the lost painting]] by [[Michelangelo]]]]
Leda was the daughter of the Aetolian [[Thestius|King Thestius]] hence she was also called Thestias.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.10.5&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Leda 3.10.5]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+3.13.8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Leda 3.13.8]; [[Euripides]], ''[[Iphigenia in Aulis|Iphigenia at Aulis]]'' 49</ref> Her mother was possibly [[Leucippe]],<ref>[[Hyginus (Fabulae)|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#14.3 14]</ref> [[Deidamia (Greek myth)|Deidameia]], daughter of [[Perieres (king of Messenia)|Perieres]],<ref>[[Scholia]] on [[Apollonius Rhodius]], 201</ref> [[Eurythemis]], daughter of [[Cleoboea]],<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.7.10&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Leda 1.7.10]</ref> or [[Laophonte (mythology)|Laophonte]], daughter of [[Pleuron (Greek mythology)|Pleuron]].<ref name=":0">[[Alcman]], fr .15 as cited in Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 1.146</ref> According to [[Alcman]], Leda's parents were [[Glaucus (mythology)|Glaucus]] and Laophonte<ref name=":0" /> while [[Eumelus of Corinth|Eumelus]] attested that they are [[Sisyphus]] and Panteiduia or Paneidyia.<ref>Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, 1.146 as cited in Lyric Poets. ''[[Eumelus of Corinth|Eumelus]], Life''</ref>

She married king [[Tyndareus]] of [[Sparta]] and by him became the mother of [[Helen of Troy]], [[Clytemnestra]], [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]], and [[Castor and Pollux|Pollux]] (also called "Polydeuces"). Leda also had three other daughters by [[Tyndareus]]: [[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]], [[Phoebe (mythological characters)|Phoebe]], and [[Philonoe]].

== Mythology ==
[[File:Statue of Leda and the Swan - Getty Museum (70.AA.110).jpg|thumb|1st-century sculpture of Leda and the Swan in the [[Getty Villa]]]]

Leda was admired by [[Zeus]], who seduced her in the guise of a [[swan]]. As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle. Their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen (later known as the beautiful "[[Helen of Troy]]"), Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux (also known as the [[Dioscuri]]). Which children are the progeny of Tyndareus the mortal king, and which are of Zeus and thus half-immortal, is not consistent among accounts, nor is which child hatched from which egg. The split is almost always half mortal, half divine, although the pairings do not always reflect the children's heritage pairings. Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux.  It is also always stated that Helen is the daughter of Zeus.

In Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'', Helen looks down from the walls of [[Troy]] and wonders why she does not see her brothers among the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]]. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of [[Lacedaemon]], thus suggesting that at least in the Homeric tradition, both were mortal.

Another account of the myth states that [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]] (Νέμεσις) was the mother of Helen, and was also impregnated by Zeus in the guise of a swan. A shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, who carefully kept it in a chest until the egg hatched. When the egg hatched, Leda adopted Helen as her daughter. Zeus also commemorated the birth of Helen by creating the constellation [[Cygnus (constellation)|Cygnus]] (Κύκνος), the Swan, in the sky.

== In art ==
{{Main|Leda and the Swan}}
[[Leda and the Swan]], Leda and the Egg, and Leda with her children were popular subjects in ancient art. In the post-[[classical art]]s, it became a potent source of inspiration. It is the subject of [[William Butler Yeats]]' poem [[Leda and the Swan#In poetry|Leda and the Swan]]. She is also the main subject in [[Honoré Desmond Sharrer|Honoré Desmond Sharrer's]] "Leda & the Folks", a large painting focusing as well on the parents of entertainer [[Elvis Presley]] and currently located at the [[Smith College Museum of Art]].

Australian artist [[Sidney Nolan]] produced at least a dozen interpretations of Leda and the Swan in the 1950s and 1960s, connected with his work on the myths of the [[Trojan War in literature and the arts|Trojan War]] and [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leda and swan, 1958 by Sidney Nolan |url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/OA35.1960/ |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au |language=en}}</ref>

In October 2022, the myth inspired [[Hozier]] to write a song in response to the ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization|Dobbs v. Jackson]]'' decision by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], which repealed ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''. The song is called ''Swan Upon Leda''.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Swan Upon Leda' Review: For Hozier, Oppression and Resistance are Mythical and Mundane |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/11/1/hozier-swan-upon-leda-single-cover-art-review/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.thecrimson.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Genealogy ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2024}}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+<big>Comparative table of Leda's family</big>
! rowspan="2" |Relation
! rowspan="2" |Name
! colspan="19" |Sources
|-
|''Hom.''
| colspan="2" |''Hom. Hymns''
|''Eum.''
|''Alc.''
|''Pher.''
|''Aes.''
| colspan="2" |''Eur.''
|''Sch. on Apollon.''
|''Dio.''
|''Str.''
|''Dic.''
| colspan="2" |''Apollod.''
|''Hyg.''
|''Luc.''
|''Clement''
|''Fulgentius''
|-
| rowspan="7" |''Parentage''
|Thestius and Laophonte
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|✓
|✓
|
| colspan="2" |
|✓
|
|
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|✓
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|-
|Thestius and Deidameia
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|
|
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| colspan="2" |
|✓
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| colspan="2" |
|
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|-
|Thestius and Eurythemis
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| colspan="2" |
|
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
|
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|-
|Thestius and Leucippe
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
|
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| colspan="2" |
|✓<ref>Leda's and Hypermnestra's mother might be Leucippe as well because there was no other woman mentioned as the wife of Thestius other than Leucippe in this text.</ref>
|
|
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|-
|Glaucus and Laophonte
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
|
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|✓
|
|-
|Sisyphus and Panteiduia
|
| colspan="2" |
|✓
|
|
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| colspan="2" |
|✓
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| colspan="2" |
|
|
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|-
|Thestius
|
| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
|
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|✓
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| colspan="2" |
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|-
| rowspan="6" |''Siblings''
|Iphiclus
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| colspan="2" |
|
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|
| colspan="2" |
|✓
|
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| colspan="2" |✓
|✓
|
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|-
|Althaea
|
| colspan="2" |
|
|✓
|✓
|
| colspan="2" |
|✓
|
|
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| colspan="2" |✓
|✓
|
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|-
|Plexippus
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
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|-
|Eurypylus
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
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|-
|Evippus
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
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|-
|Hypermnestra
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |
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| colspan="2" |✓
|✓
|
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|-
|''Seducer (disguised)''
|Zeus
|
|✓
|
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|
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|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
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|✓
|
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|-
|''Consort''
|Tyndareus
|✓
|
|✓
|
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|
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|-
| rowspan="7" |''Children''
|Castor
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓<ref name=":1">''Though unnamed but certainly pertained to him''</ref>
|✓
|✓
|-
|Polydeuces
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|
|
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|✓
|✓
|
|✓<ref name=":1" />
|✓
|✓
|-
|Helen
|
|
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|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|✓<ref>''Though unnamed but certainly pertained to her''</ref>
|✓
|✓
|-
|Clytemnestra
|
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|✓
|
|✓
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|✓
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|-
|Timandra
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|✓
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|-
|Phoebe
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|✓
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|✓
|
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|-
|Philonoe
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|✓
|
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|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
! Name
! Relation
!Name
!Relation
|-
| [[Epicaste]]
| Great-grandmother (Demonice's mother)
|Iphiclus
|Brother
|-
| [[Agenor (son of Pleuron)|Agenor]]
| Great-grandfather (Demonice's father)
|[[Helen of Troy]]
|Daughter/great aunt (Ares' sister)
|-
| [[Zeus]]
| Lover/great-grandfather (Ares' father)
|[[Clytemnestra]]
|Daughter
|-
| [[Hera]]
| Great-grandmother (Ares' mother)
|[[Castor and Pollux|Pollux]]
|Son/great uncle (Ares' brother)
|-
| [[Ares]]
| Grandfather (Thestius's father)
|[[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]]
|Daughter
|-
| [[Demonice]]
| Grandmother (Thestius' mother)
|[[Philonoe]]
|Daughter
|-
| [[Cleoboea]]
| Grandmother (Eurythemis' mother)
|[[Castor and Pollux|Castor]]
|Son/great uncle (Ares' brother)
|-
| [[Thestius]]
| Father
|Phoebe
|Daughter
|- 
| [[Eurythemis]]
| Mother
|Ladocus
|Grandson (Timandra's son)
|-
| [[Evenus (mythology)|Evenus]]
| Uncle
|[[Iphigenia]]
|Granddaughter (Clytemnestra's daughter)
|-
| Molus
| Uncle
|[[Aletes (son of Aegisthus)|Aletes]]
|Grandson (Clytemnestra's son)
|-
| Pylus
| Uncle
|[[Orestes]]
|Grandson (Clytemnestra's son)
|-
| [[Marpessa]]
| Cousin (Evenus' daughter)
|[[Erigone (daughter of Aegisthus)|Erigone]]
|Granddaughter (Clytemnestra's daughter)
|-
| [[Tyndareus]]
| Husband/Second-Cousin (Zeus's Great-Grandson)
|[[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]]
|Granddaughter/first cousin once removed (Helen's daughter)
|-
| [[Althaea (mythology)|Althaea]]
| Sister
|[[Nicostratus (mythology)|Nicostratus]]
|Grandson/first cousin once removed (Helen's son)
|-
| [[Eurypylus]]
| Brother
|[[Electra]]
|Granddaughter (Clytemnestra's daughter)
|-
| [[Hypermnestra (daughter of Thestius)|Hypermnestra]]
| Sister
|[[Anaxias]]
|Grandson (Castor's son)
|-
| [[Plexippus]]
| Brother
|Mnasinus
|Grandson/first cousin once removed (Pollux's son)
|-
| [[Toxeus]]
| Brother
|
|
|}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*{{cite book |last=March |first=J. |title=Cassell's Dictionary Of Classical Mythology |location=London |year=1999 |isbn=0-304-35161-X }}
* {{cite book |last=Peck |first=H. |title=Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities |year=1898 }}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Leda}}
* [http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/subcats.php?cat_1=5&cat_2=247 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 200 images of Leda)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410133140/http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/subcats.php?cat_1=5&cat_2=247 |date=2015-04-10 }}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Leda (mythology)| ]]
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Queens in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Family of Calyce (mythology)]]
[[Category:Mortal women of Zeus]]
[[Category:Mythological rape victims]]
[[Category:Mythological Aetolians]]
[[Category:Laconian mythology]]
[[Category:Ancient Spartan queens consort]]