\cf4 \ATXht8 Zeus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , pretending to be a swan pursued by an eagle, took refuge in the lap of\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht11206 Leda\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 on the banks of the river Eurota, near\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht11914 Sparta\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , and then raped her. In the due course of time, Leda laid an egg the color of hyacinth from which\b \cf4 \ATXht11629 Pollux\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and the beautiful\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10808 Helen\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 were hatched. Since\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht12020 Tyndareus\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , Leda's husband and the king of Sparta, slept with his wife on the same night, she laid another egg
from which\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10308 Castor\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 and\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht10326 Clytemnestra\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 were hatched. Some claim that all of Leda's children were of divine origin, while others say that the only progeny of Zeus wa
s Helen. It is also said, moreover, that it was not Leda who laid the egg, but the goddess\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht11405 Nemesis\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . According to this version, Nemesis, fleeing from the lust of Zeus, turned herself into a series of different ani
mals until, while flying in the guise of a wild goose, she was triumphantly mounted by Zeus.\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht12 Hermes\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 placed the egg laid by Nemesis between the thighs of Leda, who was seated with her legs spread on a stool. Thu
s, Tindareus' wife, who brooded the egg, was only the nursing mother of the fatal Helen.
