Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (or in Greek, Polydeuces) were twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. In Latin the twins are also known as the Gemini (literally "twins")
Castor et Pollux descending tetrachord motive associated with lamentation since Claudio Monteverdi's "Nymph's Lament" (in this case it is chromatic: F-E-Eb-D-Db-C). Although Telaira's "Tristes apprêts" in scene 3 does not have the descending tetrachord feature, Cuthbert Girdlestone still calls it a lament. The air is in da capo form, whose B-section has a recitative-like quality. It features a bassoon obbligato part and a high register outburst on the word "Non!" that marks its high point. The march music for the entrance of Pollux and the Spartans is martial in character. With Lynceus's corpse at his feet, Pollux proclaims his brother avenged; the Spartans