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
Ab ovo "soup to nuts". Thus "ab ovo" can also be used to mean a complete or entire thing. Ab ovo Ab ovo (Latin: "from the beginning, the origin, the egg") is a reference to one of the twin eggs from which Helen of Troy was born. The eggs were laid by Leda after mating with Zeus disguised as a swan. Had Leda not laid the egg, Helen would not have been born, so Paris could not have eloped with her, so there would have been no Trojan War. The English literary use of the phrase comes from Horace's "Ars Poetica", where