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 (river) Leda (river) The Leda is a river in north-western Germany in the state of Lower Saxony. It is a right tributary of the Ems and originates at the confluence of the Sagter Ems and the Dreyschloot (a branch of the Soeste) near the town of Barßel. The Leda flows into the Ems near the town of Leer. On the southern bank of the Leda, in the "Overledingen Land" (Overledingen="country over the Leda"), opposite Leer, lies the small settlement of Kloster Muhde ("Muhde" from the Old Frisian "mutha" meaning "(river) mouth"). The total length of the river is ( including the