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
HMS Leda (1892) to coast-guard duties. on 8 February 1908, "Leda" collided with the old cruiser in Harwich harbour. "Leda" was badly holed and had to be beached to avoid sinking. She went under repair at Sheerness Dockyard. Repairs were completed by the end of March that year, allowing"Leda" to resume her coast-guard duties at Harwich. She was converted to a minesweeper in 1909, which involved removing the torpedo tubes, but continued on coast-guard and fishery protection operations. On 3 February 1914 "Leda" was towing the coastguard cutter "Snipe" off Gunfleet in the Thames estuary when "Snipe" foundered and sunk. One of "Leda"s