Leda (mythology) and by him, mother of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux (also spelled "Castor and Polydeuces"). Leda also had other daughters by Tyndareus: Timandra, Phoebe, and Philonoe. Leda was admired by Zeus, who seduced her in the guise of a swan. As a swan, Zeus fell into her arms for protection from a pursuing eagle. Their consummation, on the same night as Leda lay with her husband Tyndareus, resulted in two eggs from which hatched Helen (later known as the beautiful "Helen of Troy"), Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux (also known as the Dioscuri). Which children are the
Leda and the Swan (Peter Paul Rubens) Leda and the Swan (Peter Paul Rubens) Leda and the Swan, by Peter Paul Rubens, who painted two versions of this subject. The first was completed in 1601 and the second in 1602. Rubens was heavily influenced by Michelangelo. He was introduced to his work on his journey to Italy. Rubens decided to go to Rome to make copies of paintings and further his studies of Italian art from the leading Italian artists of the previous century, later termed the Renaissance. In Rome, he encountered Michelangelo’s version of "Leda and the Swan". Even though Michelangelo’s version does not exist today,