Castor and Pollux

Castor and Polydeuces, the Dioscuri, had carried off Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus. The women had been betrothed to their cousins, Idas and Lynceus, sons of Aphareus and Arene. Idas was, in truth, the son of Poseidon. The abduction caused a bitter rivalry between the two pairs of twins. Idas was the stronger, while Lynceus possessed such keen sight that he could see into the darkness and through solid objects.

After Aphareus died, the four men set aside their quarrel long enough to raid Arcadia together. The raid succeeded, and Idas drew the lot to divide the cattle and the rest of the plunder. He quartered a cow and declared that the man who ate his portion first would receive half the booty. The next quickest would receive the remainder. Idas then swallowed his share before the others could finish. Lynceus followed, and the two brothers drove the cattle to Messene. They also took the other plunder and hid inside a hollow oak while waiting for their rivals to return.

Lynceus had seen them from the summit of Taygetus. When Idas hurried down the mountain, he hurled his spear at the oak and transfixed Castor. Polydeuces rushed out to avenge his brother. Idas tore the carved headstone from Aphareus’s tomb and threw it at him, crushing him badly. Polydeuces nevertheless killed Lynceus with his spear. Zeus then intervened for his son and struck Idas dead with a thunderbolt.

The Messenians tell the ending differently. They say that Castor killed Lynceus, after which Idas, overcome with grief, stopped fighting and began to bury his brother. Castor approached and demolished the monument Idas had raised. He mocked Lynceus, saying that his brother had fought no better than a woman. Idas turned and drove his sword into Castor’s belly. Polydeuces then took instant vengeance.

Theseus and Peirithous rode into Sparta and seized Helen while she offered a sacrifice in the Temple of Upright Artemis. Helen was the sister of Castor and Polydeuces, the Dioscuri. Theseus and Peirithous had recently agreed to help each other obtain wives. At the place in Athens where the sanctuary of Serapis later stood, they swore to share the danger, draw lots for Helen after taking her, and carry off another daughter of Zeus for whoever lost the lot.

They led an army into Lacedaemon, but the two men rode ahead of the main force with Helen. They escaped their pursuers at Tegea. There, as agreed, they drew lots for Helen, and Theseus won her. He expected the Athenians to disapprove of his action and left Helen at Aphidnae while he went into Tartarus.

During Theseus’s absence, Castor and Polydeuces gathered an army of Laconians and Arcadians. They marched against Athens and demanded that Helen be returned. The Athenians denied that they were sheltering her and said that they did not know where she was. The Dioscuri then ravaged Attica.

The people of Deceleia disapproved of Theseus’s conduct. They guided the Dioscuri to Aphidnae, where Castor and Polydeuces found Helen and rescued her. They then destroyed Aphidnae. The Dioscuri are also described as native to Sparta, where they grew up with Helen in the house of King Tyndareus. In another account, the person rescued from Aphidnae is their mother, Antiope, rather than their sister Helen.

A violent storm struck the Argo while the Argonauts sailed at sea. The ship and its crew faced danger as the waters rose around them. Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, appeared as divine protectors. Their presence calmed the storm, brought the Argonauts to safety, and allowed the voyage to continue.

The storm formed part of the Argo’s changing route through the seas. In one telling, it struck after the Argonauts left Phaeacia and drove them to the coast of Africa. In another, it drove them to Libya during the outward voyage. A different telling sent them to the River Phasis, then eastwards to the Ocean and the Red Sea. On their return, they carried the Argo across Libya. Other tellings placed the journey to Libya on the return voyage.

Castor and Pollux were also called Castor and Polydeuces. Polydeuces was the son of Zeus, while Castor was mortal. After Castor died, Polydeuces refused immortality unless Castor shared it with him. Zeus then allowed the brothers to spend their days alternately in the upper air and beneath the earth at Therapne.

Zeus also placed their images among the stars as the Twins, rewarding their brotherly love. Their shared fate explained their divine status, while their appearance during the storm showed them protecting the Argonauts at sea. The Argo then continued its voyage.