Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux)

Who were the Dioscuri’s parents?

The Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, were twin brothers. But according to the best-known tradition, they had different fathers: Castor was the son of Leda and her husband Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the son of Zeus, who had slept with Leda in the form of a swan.

There were, however, other versions of the Dioscuri’s parentage. Sometimes both brothers were considered the sons of Tyndareus; other times, both were the sons of Zeus. In one tradition, they may have even been the sons of Zeus and Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, rather than Leda.

What were the Dioscuri’s attributes?

The Dioscuri were universally represented as youthful warriors, closely associated with horses. As gods, they were believed to be the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo’s fire—a glowing electric field that commonly occurs during thunderstorms.

Each of the Dioscuri had distinguishing attributes of their own as well. Castor was a great fencer, while Pollux was a champion boxer.

How did the Dioscuri die?

In most accounts, the Dioscuri were killed during a battle with Idas and Lynceus, twin brothers from Messenia who were their chief rivals. One popular tradition traced this battle to a quarrel over the daughters of Leucippus, who were supposed to marry Idas and Lynceus but who were abducted by the Dioscuri instead. A fierce fight broke out between the two sets of twins, during which Castor, Idas, and Lynceus were all killed. 

Pollux, who was the son of Zeus, begged his father not to let him be separated from his dead brother. Zeus responded by making Castor and Pollux immortal on alternating days: they would live among the gods on Mount Olympus one day, then dwell among the dead in the Underworld the next. 

The Dioscuri Rescue Helen

When their sister Helen was abducted by the Athenian king Theseus, Castor and Pollux were the ones who rescued her. They invaded Attica (the region controlled by Theseus) while Theseus was busy in the Underworld with his friend Pirithous.

The divine twins quickly overcame the Attic forces, discovered where their sister was being held, and brought her back home. They even captured Aethra, Theseus’ mother, and forced her to become Helen’s servant.

Pronunciation

Castor

Polydeuces

Titles and Epithets

The Greeks most often referred to Castor and Pollux (Polydeuces) as the Dioscuri, meaning “sons of Zeus.” But the title “Tyndarids” (Τυνδαρίδαι/Tyndarídai), “sons of Tyndareus,” also appears in both Greek and Roman literature. This is a reference to the Spartan king Tyndareus, who was sometimes named as the father of one or both of the brothers. 

In their capacity as gods, the Dioscuri were often invoked under the title Ἄνακ(τ)ες (Ának(t)es), meaning “masters” or “lords.” One of their most important epithets as deities was σωτῆρες (sōtêres), “saviors,” reflecting their role as helper gods.

In Rome, the main collective title for Castor and Pollux was Castores, “the Castors.” They were also sometimes known as the Gemini, “Twins,” connecting them with the constellation of the same name.

Origins

Scholars have concluded that the Dioscuri were deities of Indo-European extraction. They are most often compared to the Indian Ashvins, youthful divine twins from the Vedas who are closely associated with horses, just like the Greek Dioscuri.

Similar pairs of divine twins were also known within the Greek world. In Thebes, the prototypical divine twins were Amphion and Zethus, who, just like Castor and Pollux, were born from the union of Zeus and a mortal woman of royal descent. Castor and Pollux appear to have originated as a local form of these divine twins in the Greek city-state of Sparta.

Given the local origins of Castor and Pollux, it is likely that the gods known as the “Dioscuri” were originally separate from them. There is evidence that the Dioscuri were deities who reached Greece through the region of Ionia (on the coast of modern-day Turkey), where they seem to have had connections with the astral realm. They were also closely connected with, or identified with, the Cabiri, the mystery gods of Samothrace.^[35]

In Messenia, where the Dioscuri were claimed as local gods (supposedly born on the coastal island of Pephnos), the divine pair may have even been identified not with Castor and Pollux but with Idas and Lynceus, the mythical rivals of Castor and Pollux.^[36]

Even if the Dioscuri were once distinct from Castor and Pollux, the divine twins of Sparta became universally identified with the Dioscuri at an early stage of Greek history. The cult of Castor and Pollux eventually became a Panhellenic cult, diffused throughout the Greek and Roman worlds (and beyond).

Birth

In the most common version of the myth, the Dioscuri were born when their mother Leda, the queen of Sparta, slept with her husband Tyndareus and the god Zeus on the same night. (Zeus had fallen in love with Leda and forced himself upon her in the form of a swan.) 

Leda became pregnant by both of her lovers and gave birth to quadruplets: Castor and Clytemnestra, whose father was Tyndareus, and Pollux and Helen, whose father was Zeus.^[37]

Some traditions made the story even more colorful by adding that Leda laid an egg after her encounter with swan-Zeus, and that it was from this egg that her children hatched (though sources disagree as to whether all of her children who were born this way or only the “divine” ones, Pollux and Helen).^[38] Pausanias claimed that the egg laid by Leda could be seen on display in a temple in Sparta.^[39]

Adventures

Like all great heroes, the Dioscuri were adventurers who took part in notable heroic expeditions. Their most famous exploits included their rescue of their sister Helen from Theseus, their abduction of the Leucippides, and their fateful rivalry with the Messenian heroes Idas and Lynceus.

The Rescue of Helen

When Castor and Pollux’s sister Helen was still an unmarried girl, she was carried away by Theseus, the king of Athens. Theseus hoped to make Helen his wife as soon as she came of age. But Castor and Pollux invaded Athens and brought Helen home to Sparta.

According to the standard tradition, Theseus left Athens soon after abducting Helen to help his friend Pirithous on a reckless mission to abduct another daughter of Zeus: the Underworld goddess Persephone. The Dioscuri took advantage of Theseus’ absence to invade his kingdom. 

Upon discovering that Helen was being kept at the fortress of Aphidnae, not far from Athens, the Dioscuri retrieved their sister and destroyed the fortress.^[40] In the process, they captured Theseus’ mother Aethra and forced her to become Helen’s slave. In some accounts, they even installed Menestheus as the new king of Athens.^[41]

Plutarch reported several variations on this myth in his Life of Theseus. Some accounts said that it was Idas and Lynceus, the enemies of the Dioscuri, who abducted Helen, giving her to Theseus for safekeeping; others, that Tyndareus himself gave Helen to Theseus to protect her from the advances of his nephews; and one tradition even involved a Trojan invasion of Greece, wherein the Trojan hero Hector (rather than the Dioscuri) captured Theseus’ mother Aethra.^[42]

The Voyage of the Argonauts

The Dioscuri were among the heroes who sailed with Jason to steal the Golden Fleece from Aeetes, the ruthless king of Colchis. To accomplish this dangerous mission, Jason enlisted the help of some of the greatest heroes of his generation, who would afterwards be known as the “Argonauts” (named for the ship they sailed on, the Argo).

During the voyage, Pollux distinguished himself by defeating Amycus, the king of the Bebryces, in a boxing match. Amycus was a brute who forced all newcomers to fight him. Trying to implement this policy with the Argonauts, however, proved to be a mistake: as an accomplished boxer, Pollux easily beat Amycus in the ring. In most traditions, Pollux killed Amycus,^[43] though there were some traditions in which he let him live.^[44]

The bout between Pollux and Amycus was the Dioscuri’s main contribution to the voyage of the Argonauts. In ancient art, however, Castor and Pollux were sometimes shown helping the witch Medea fight the bronze automaton Talos, who attacked the Argonauts as they were returning home.^[45]

The Calydonian Boar Hunt

According to some sources, the Dioscuri were also among the heroes who participated in the Calydonian Boar Hunt.^[46] This famous exploit took place after the goddess Artemis sent a monstrous boar to ravage Calydon, the kingdom of Oeneus—a punishment for Oeneus’ failure to properly honor Artemis.

In addition to the Dioscuri, many of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology also took part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, including Theseus, Peleus (the father of Achilles), the heroine Atalanta, and Oeneus’ son Meleager, among others.

Other Adventures

The Dioscuri took part in a handful of lesser adventures, too, most of them involving other heroes from the generation of the Argonauts. For example, they competed in the funeral games of Pelias, Jason’s uncle, who died shortly after the Argonauts’ return.^[47] They also successfully competed in the first Olympic Games, held by Heracles.^[48]

In another myth, the Dioscuri (together with Jason) helped Peleus sack the city of Iolcus. Acastus, the king of Iolcus, had tried to have Peleus killed, but Peleus was able to escape. He took his revenge by destroying Iolcus and killing his would-be assassin.^[49]

Some of the twins’ adventures were associated with the eastern Aegean region, providing further evidence that the deities known as the Dioscuri may have reached Greece from the East (see above). For example, the Dioscuri were credited with founding the city of Dioscurias in the Black Sea region of Pontus (near Colchis).^[50]

They were also said to have been initiated into the mysteries of Samothrace (where they were closely connected with the local gods known as the Cabiri).^[51] Like many heroes, the Dioscuri were initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, too.^[52]

Other myths restored the Dioscuri to their homeland of Sparta in the southern Peloponnese. In the Catalogue of Women, for example, it is the Dioscuri who supervise the courting and marriage of their sister Helen (effectively helping to choose the next king of Sparta).^[53]

An early tradition also had the Dioscuri fight Hippocoon and his sons, who had exiled Tyndareus (Castor’s father) from Sparta. In the standard version, Hippocoon and his sons were ultimately killed by Heracles, who wished to settle a private vendetta.^[54] But in an alternative version, it was the Dioscuri who fought the sons of Hippocoon, apparently due to a romantic rivalry (the source is fragmentary, so the details are unclear).^[55]

Death and Deification

The deaths of the Dioscuri were the result of a quarrel with the twins Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Tyndareus’ brother (and their uncle) Aphareus. There are different explanations for this altercation.

In one tradition, the two sets of twins fell out over a cattle raid that they had carried out together. While dividing their spoils, Idas and Lynceus tricked Castor and Pollux into giving up their share of the cattle. 

Furious at being tricked, the Dioscuri plotted to ambush Idas and Lynceus on their way home. But the sharp-eyed Lynceus spotted Castor hiding inside a hollow tree. In the struggle that followed, all but Pollux lost their lives.^[56]

In another tradition, Idas and Lynceus attacked the Dioscuri for stealing their brides, Phoebe and Hilaeira (also known as the “Leucippides,” the daughters of Leucippus). The two sets of twins fought in a pitched battle near the grave of Aphareus (Idas and Lynceus’ father).^[57]

Some sources seemingly tried to reconcile these various traditions, having Idas and Lynceus mock the Dioscuri for marrying the Leucippides without paying a bride price. In response, the Dioscuri promptly stole Idas and Lynceus’ cattle, with the intention of giving them to Leucippus as a belated bride price. Angry about the theft of their cattle, Idas and Lynceus attacked the Dioscuri.^[58]

Whatever the reason for their conflict, the battle between the Dioscuri and Idas and Lynceus was usually described in the same way: Lynceus killed Castor, while Pollux killed Lynceus. Just as Idas was attacking Pollux, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt (or, alternatively, Pollux simply turned around and killed Idas, too).^[59]

Zeus wished to make his son Pollux immortal, but Pollux would not accept this while his brother Castor was dead. In the best-known version of the myth, a unique compromise was reached, wherein they enjoyed immortality on alternating days:

These two the earth, the giver of life, covers, albeit alive, and even in the world below they have honor from Zeus. One day they live in turn, and one day they are dead; and they have won honor like unto that of the gods.^[60]

It is unclear, however, if they both alternated their days between the Underworld and the upper world, or if one brother was in the Underworld while the other was among the gods.

Castor and Pollux in Rome

The Dioscuri entered Roman religion quite dramatically at the Battle of Lake Regillus (ca. 496 BCE). This battle was fought between a coalition of Latin states, led by the banished Roman king Tarquinius Superbus, and the fledgling Roman Republic. During the battle, the dictator Aulus Postumius, commander of the Roman army, promised Castor a temple in Rome if he came to his aid.

Castor must have been intrigued by the prospect of having the Romans worship him: it was said that during a critical moment of the battle, two handsome and tall horsemen were seen riding white horses and wearing purple robes. 

After the Romans had won the battle, the two horsemen were seen again in the Roman Forum, where they drank from the fountain of Juturna, announced the victory, and vanished. These horsemen were later identified as Castor and Pollux.^[61]

A few years later, in 484 BCE, the Romans dedicated a temple to the Dioscuri in the Forum.^[62] Since the Romans thought of the horseman Castor as the dominant twin, they referred to the temple as the Temple of Castor, and to the twins collectively as the Castores, meaning “the Castors.”

The Romans often boasted that Castor and Pollux continued to stand by them throughout history. According to legend, the twins came to Rome in 168 BCE to announce Aemilius Paulus’ victory over the Macedonians in the Battle of Pydna. It was said that when they first appeared, the doors of their temple opened of their own accord, and that when they arrived at the Forum, they bathed their horses in the fountain of Juturna.^[63]

Likewise, Castor and Pollux were no doubt the godlike, ivy-crowned twins who supposedly announced the Romans’ victory over the Cimbri (101 BCE).^[64] Castor and Pollux were also said to have been present at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BCE), in which Julius Caesar defeated his rival Pompey.^[65] Finally, when Drusus died on the Rhine (9 BCE), Castor and Pollux were seen riding in the Roman camp.^[66]

Greece

Temples and Sanctuaries

Within the Greek world, the cult of the Dioscuri was particularly prevalent in the Peloponnese. Sparta, Therapne, and Argos all claimed to have the tomb of one or both of the Dioscuri, who were believed to live underground.^[73] The Spartans preserved an ancient house that was thought to have belonged to the Dioscuri.^[74] And in several Peloponnesian cities, including Sparta and Argos, there were families who boasted descent from the divine twins.

The Dioscuri had temples and sanctuary complexes, too, including at the Menelaion in Therapne, just outside of Sparta;^[75] at Sparta itself;^[76] and at Argos.^[77] In Sparta, where worship of the Dioscuri was best established, there was a statue of Castor and Pollux at the entrance to the race course. Likewise, on the Messenian island of Pephnos, there were bronze statuettes of the Dioscuri exposed to the open air and the sea.^[78]

Occasionally, Castor and Pollux were worshipped separately rather than collectively. Castor was sometimes worshipped on his own at Sparta,^[79] and Pollux at Therapne.^[80]

In other parts of Greece, including Attica, Cyrene, and Sicily, Castor and Pollux were sometimes honored as the Anakes. Because of this, the temple of Castor and Pollux in Athens was called the Anacaeum. 

Festivals and Rituals

Festivals of the Dioscuri were usually called Dioscuria and were widely celebrated by the ancient Greeks. In Sparta, the Dioscuria involved sacrifices, rejoicing, and drinking.^[81] Cyrene, a Greek colony in North Africa, was also known for hosting a great Dioscuria festival.^[82]

In Attica, where the Dioscuri were worshipped as the Anakes or Anaktes, their festival was known as the Anakeia. There was also an Anakeia festival celebrated by the city of Amphissa near Delphi, though the identity of the gods being honored at this festival has been disputed since antiquity.^[83]

The rite of theoxenia (literally, “entertaining of the gods”) was also closely associated with the Dioscuri.^[84] An elaborate feast would be prepared, and the host (whether an individual or a public group) would invite the gods to take part. 

Rome

Temples and Sanctuaries

In Rome, the twins were believed to have helped the Roman army during the Battle of Lake Regillus (ca. 496 BCE); following their victory, the Romans honored their divine helpers with a temple of Castor and Pollux, built in the Roman Forum. Later, the Romans erected additional temples to the brothers.

The cult of the Dioscuri probably reached Rome via Italian cities such as Lavinium, Ardea, or even Tusculum, moving northwards from the Greek cities of southern Italy.^[85] However, the Romans almost never referred to the twins as the Dioscuri, instead simply calling them Castor and Pollux, or, collectively, the Castores.

The Castores were firmly established in Rome by the beginning of the fifth century BCE, when legend says they helped the Roman army win the Battle of Lake Regillus (see above). The twins’ temple in the Roman Forum was dedicated in 484 BCE.^[86]

In Rome, Castor was the more important of the twins from the beginning, perhaps because his mythology better embodied the key Roman attributes of horsemanship and war. This is why the Romans referred to the twins as the Castores, “the Castors,” and why their temple was known from the beginning as the aedes Castoris, the “temple of Castor.”^[87]

Festivals and Rituals

The Romans commemorated the day on which the Temple of Castor was dedicated—the Ides of Quinctilis (July 15)—with an annual feast in honor of Castor and Pollux. This celebration featured a parade of Roman youths of the equestrian class. During the parade (known as the Transvectio equitum), young men on horseback went from the Temple of Mars on the Via Appia to the Temple of Castor and finally to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill.^[88]

Other festivals and rituals of Castor and Pollux in Rome highlighted their connection with water and water deities. In Rome and Ostia, the twins were celebrated together with the sea god Neptune during the feast of the Neptunalia on July 23.

Other Cults

Though the cult of the Dioscuri (or Castores) was best known in Greece and Rome, the twins were also worshipped in other parts of the Mediterranean world.

In Etruria, for example, Castor and Pollux are attested from a relatively early period, appearing in colorful vase paintings. The Etruscans knew the twins as the Tinas Cliniar, or, individually, as Castur (Castor) and Pultuce (Pollux); they were the sons of Tinia (Zeus/Jupiter) and Latva (Leda), and the brothers of Elinai (Helen) and Clutmsta (Clytemnestra).

In Syria, Castor and Pollux were honored as the sons of Jupiter Dolichenus, a hybrid deity who became important during the Roman Empire. Early historians also claimed that the Celts living near the ocean worshipped Castor and Pollux—probably a reference to Celtic divine twins such as Divanno and Dinomogetimarus.^[89] The Germanic divine twins known as the Alci or Alces were also identified with Castor and Pollux in antiquity.^[90]