Castor and Pollux belong to that golden age before time and history, when mortals and immortals interacted : the Age of Heroes. Their mortal yet no less legendary human family tree and history figure in some of the most ancient poems of the Greeks, such as Homer’s epic Iliad. Though honoured with temples and feast days, the deified youths lived somewhat less “heroic” lives than, say, Perseus or Hercules. They did not, for example, take part in the Trojan War, nor did they emerge victorious from any daring feats. Their deification arises not from any wondrous achievement ; Castor’ death results from a violent quarrel with a cousin. Instead of heroism, their fame lies in the bond of brotherhood. This bond ultimately earns them their immortality. More importantly, it is what earns them a brotherhood that surpasses the ties of blood relationship.

The name Tyndarides for Castor and Pollux (Polydeukès in Greek) identifies them as sons of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon (Sparta). Tyndareus had three brothers : Aphareius, father of the two brothers Idas and Lynceus ; Leucippus, father of the two sisters Hilaera and Phoebe - the family history seems mysteriously tied to pairs of siblings (twins ?) (1). Another brother, Icarius, is the father of Penelope, the wife of wandering Odysseus. Only Castor and Pollux do not appear in Homer’s poem, their days on earth coming to an end too soon.

But another, more frequently used epithet for the twins is Dioscuri, Dioskouroi in Greek (etym. Dios - Zeus ; kouroi - youths, young men). It too describes literally the boys’ family connections, as it were. They are the young men of god, sons of Zeus. How is this possible ?

According to the Greek poets, Castor and Pollux are sons of Leda, the wife of Tyndareus. On her wedding night, she has sexual intercourse with Zeus amorously metamorphosed into a swan, and (later) with her newly wed husband. The result is quadruplets : two pairs of non-identical twins, one set for each father. Zeus’s offspring are Pollux and Helen whose face would launch the famous thousand ships. They are the semi-divine twins. The king’s offspring are Castor and Clytemnestra, entirely mortal. In one version of the story, Leda lays two eggs after her wedding night, each containing one set of twins. The cone-shaped caps in the heroes’ iconography represent remnants of eggshell, a way of recalling Zeus’s contribution to their history.

Strictly speaking, Castor and Pollux are half-brothers. All the ancient poets emphasize their strong attachment to each other. They go everywhere together, do everything together. However, the strength of their brotherly love is illustrated unequivocally only in the story of their deaths.

There is more than one version of the end of the Dioscuri. The common denominator involves a dispute with their cousins Idas and Lynceus during the course of which Castor is slain, as is his slayer (Pollux may or may not be present). The immortal half-brother is wounded but survives. The dispute ends only after a forceful intervention by Zeus.

In this story, family relationships play their usual ambiguous role. The ties of blood can be factors of solidarity as much as factors of ill-will and violence. The brothers Idas and Lynceus display loyalty towards each other, as do Castor and Pollux. But between cousins, loyalty fades away to be replaced by rivalry and even treachery. In one version of the death story, Castor and Pollux kidnap their cousins’ brides who happen to be their other (twin ?) cousins Hilaera and Phoebe. Idas and Lynceus attempt to recover them. It is a question of honour. The Dioscuri err clearly on the side of dishonour. Nevertheless, and in spite of Aristotle’s and Cicero’s views on the matter, an unheroic deed does not disolve the youths’ brotherly love.

Castor lies dead at the hands of a blood relation. Zeus intervenes only because his son Pollux is threatened. Lynceus and Idas, though innocent of any crime, are both killed. The god wishes to remove Pollux to Olympus, but with his brother gone, the youth has lost all desire to live. He implores his father to let him descend to Hades to “live” as a shade with Castor. Rather than lose a son, Zeus decides instead that both shall share Pollux’s immortality ; that is, every other day the two alternate between life in the Underworld and life among the gods.

The name Dioskouroi thus relates more to the youths’ afterlife than to the circumstances of their birth. The question of who is the son of whom becomes irrelevant. The half-brothers Castor and Pollux both become sons of the god in the sense that both of them owe him their equal semi-immortal status.

Only when they share life and death, Hades and the heavens, do they at last become identical twins.

1. In fact, there are other children. Leucippus had another daughter, Arsinoë ; some poets identify her as the girl seduced by Apollo and whose semi-divine son is Asclepius, the father of medicine.

Images : Tablet of the Dioscuri on horseback from Laconia ; Relief of the Dioscuri with their sister Helen, from VRoma. Columned frame below : photo by the author.