Castor and Pollux horse breaker and the boxer / Polydeuces, my brothers" ..." – Helen, "Iliad" 3.253–255), but in the "Odyssey" they are treated as alive even though "the corn-bearing earth holds them". The author describes them as "having honour equal to gods", living on alternate days because of the intervention of Zeus. In both the "Odyssey" and in Hesiod, they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In Pindar, Pollux is the son of Zeus while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus. The theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux; similar characterisations appear in
Leda and the Swan (Peter Paul Rubens) copies of it do. A copy of Michelangelo’s original work was done by Rubens. Rubens would have been familiar with Michelangelo’s "Leda". His version is considered a prototype for Rubens’s two works. Rubens’s 1601 "Leda", was modeled after Michelangelo’s "Leda". The placement of the body is very similar as is its twisting posture. Even the positioning of the fingers is mirrored. The swan is caressing the female in exactly the same way. The actual figure of the female varies drastically between Rubens’s style and Michelangelo’s style. Michelangelo typically depicted women in a masculine way. Muscles are more clearly defined and