Leda was the daughter of the Aetolian King Thestius hence she was also called Thestias. WebLeda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed Basilisk Mythology, Origin & Facts | What is a Basilisk? An account of W.B. Terra Mater Mythology, Powers & Symbol | Roman Goddess of the Earth, Astarte: Canaanite Goddess of Fertility | History, Mythology & Facts, Baldur: Norse God of Light | History, Mythology & Powers, Cerberus in Greek Mythology | The Three-Headed Dog. She was the wife of Tyndareus, the king of Leda & the Swan. [citation needed], The Philadelphia cigar maker 'Bobrow Brothers' made a brand of cigars with the name 'Leda' which was sold at least into the 1940s. Leda and the Swan remains one of the most popular myths from the Greek world. Yeats' "Leda and the Swan": an image's coming of age, Samuelson blog with thoughts and pictures, 16th century Venetian painting by Il Padovanino, Alternative detail view of the Getty vase, The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Vegetation, Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment, Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leda_and_the_Swan&oldid=1152060124, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 April 2023, at 23:08. Leda Hachiman, Japanese God of War: Mythology & Symbol | Who is Hachiman? "Carole Harmel", Catalogue essay, Chicago: Galerija, 1983. Leda and the Swan Introduction Still other variants say that Leda may have hatched out Helen from an egg laid by the goddess Nemesis, who was similarly approached by Zeus in the form of a swan. Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 200 images of Leda), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leda_(mythology)&oldid=1148793364, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from May 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Husband/Second-Cousin (Zeus's Great-Grandson), Granddaughter/first cousin once removed (Helen's daughter), Grandson/first cousin once removed (Helen's son), Grandson/first cousin once removed (Pollux's son), This page was last edited on 8 April 2023, at 10:47. Definition Genealogy. He then either rapes or seduces her and impregnates her. [1] In other versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess who personified the disaster that awaited those suffering from the pride of Hubris. However, Rubens did make alterations to Michelangelos design. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. WebThe speaker wonders whether Leda, caught up by the swan and mastered by the brute blood of the air, assumed his knowledge as well as his power Before the indifferent beak could let her drop. Form Leda and the Swan is a sonnet, a traditional fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. [24][25], Bristol Museum and Art Gallery currently exhibits Karl Weschke's Leda and the Swan, painted in 1986. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. Helen emerging from an egg appears on red-figure pottery from Apulia and Campania during the 4th century BCE. One day after Leda was married to King Tyndareus, her beauty managed to catch the attention of Zeus from his throne atop Mount Olympus. Lethe: Overview, Mythology & Facts | Greek River of Forgetfulness, Australian Mythology: Gods & Creatures | Aboriginal Folklore & Legends. Aegis Mythology & Symbolism | What is Aegis in Greek Mythology? Satyr Characteristics & Myths | What are Satyrs in Greek Mythology? When Zeus saw her, he fell in love with her. Greek Myth According to many versions of the story, Zeus took the form of a swan and had sexual intercourse with Leda on the same night she slept with her husband King Tyndareus. Being so caught up, Zeus was said to have seduced many women in various guises: for Europa he transformed into a bull, for Antiope a satyr, for Danae a shower of gold. She is also the main subject in Honor 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. Greek Myth The 2006 novel The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante and its 2021 film adaptation of the same name feature a protagonist named Leda, who makes several references to the myth for which she is named. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Semiramis, Semi-Legendary Queen | History, Facts & Legends. Plutus: Mythology & Family | Who was the Greek God of Wealth? Benvenuto Cellini made a medallion, now in Vienna, early in his career, and Antonio Abondio one on the obverse of a medal celebrating a Roman courtesan. FTCE School Psychologist PK-12 (036) Prep, ILTS Social Science - Sociology and Anthropology (249) Prep, SAT Subject Test World History: Practice and Study Guide, CLEP Western Civilization I - Ancient Near East to 1648 Prep, Political Science 101: Intro to Political Science, Praxis Biology and General Science: Practice and Study Guide, Praxis Business Education: Content Knowledge (5101) Prep, Praxis English Language Arts - Content & Analysis (5039): Practice & Study Guide, Chemical Safety: Preparation, Use, Storage, and Disposal, Spectrophotometers: Definition, Uses, and Parts, What is an Autoclave? WebGet LitCharts A +. Zeus seduces Leda in the guise of a swan. Da Vinci's work is notable because it shows the children hatching from their eggs alongside Leda and the swan, whereas Michelangelo's version shows Leda and the swan against a backdrop of red cloth. They also feature in several other myths, one of which sees Castor mortally wounded. Leda and the Swan, a 16th-century copy after a lost painting by Michelangelo, Image Credit: After Michelangelo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Leda and the Swan In these versions, eggs are still produced but a farmer discovers them and gives them to Queen Leda, likely because he believed her beautiful and femininity would leave her better suited to watching eggs than someone who has to work long hours far afield. Memnon, King of Ethiopia: Mythology & History | Who was Memnon? Leda and Her Four Children Leda gave birth to four children after some time. [citation needed], A version of the Leda and the Swan story is the foundation myth in the Canadian futuristic thriller television series Orphan Black which aired over 5 seasons from 2013 to 2017. [37] Notably, Chiuri's 2021 Dior dress featured feathered swan-wings spanning over the chest and shoulder. Get the entire guide to Leda and the Swan as a printable PDF. [4], The fate of the erotic album I Modi some years later shows why this was so. Hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and subscriber rewards. Leda (mythology Leda was famously seduced by Zeus when the king of the Olympian gods took the form of a swan. As a result, she gave birth to two sets of twins, some with Zeus as their father and some fathered by her human husband, Tyndareus. "[31] See external links for a bas relief arranged in the position as described by Yeats. Soon after her unique encounter with the swan, Leda would lay one or two eggs, depending on the version of the story being told. These three daughters were all certifiably Tyndareuss children. Hygieia, Greek Goddess of Health: Mythology & Role | Who was Hygieia? Yeatss Poetry Taranis, Celtic God of Storms: Mythology & Symbol | Who was Taranis? As a result, the new babes were hatched from two eggs: from one came Helen and Clytemnestra, and the other came Castor and Pollux. [citation needed][38], In April 2012 an art gallery in London, England, was instructed by the police to remove a modern exhibit of Leda and the Swan. How can those terrified vague fingers push. All that is known is her name; she achieved nothing nor was she married off to anyone important. Tithonus in Greek Mythology | Origin, Myth & Immortality, Tisiphone in Greek Mythology | Origin, Sisters & Role, Lugh, Celtic God | Origin, Role & Mythology. WebLeda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or rapes Leda. Cartwright, M. (2017, February 16). In his poem Leda and the Swan, William Butler Yeats retells the classic Greek myth in which Leda, a human woman, is impregnated by the god Zeus while he is in the form of a swan. We care about our planet! [34], In 1935, German-born movie star Marlene Dietrich wore a dramatically designed Leda costume to a Hollywood costume party. WebLeda and the Swan William Butler Yeats Published in Yeats collection of Later Poems in 1926, Leda and the Swan is a sonnet based on a myth from Greek mythology. An online exhibition presented by the National Library of Ireland on W.B. His reasoning is not always clear; he may have been trying to hide from his wife, Hera, or he may have found it easier to get close to Leda if he appeared to be a harmless swan. Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The Greek Myths: The Complete And Definitive Edition. In Greek mythology, Leda is the wife of King Tyndareus and queen of Sparta. Leda WebLeda. Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or rapes Leda. Rubenss 1601Ledawas clearly modelled on that of Michelangelos. By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill, The third voice, a girl who is pregnant and leaves her baby, mentions "the great swan, with its terrible look,/ Coming at me," insinuating that the girl was raped. This conception results in the birth of Helen of Troy, who grows up to cause the legendary Trojan Waran event that, in turn, becomes the catalyst for the Golden Age of Greece and the dawn of modern history. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom hatched from eggs.