Helen of Troy refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which Helen emerged. The First Vatican Mythographer introduces the notion that two eggs came from the union: one containing Castor and Pollux; one with Helen and Clytemnestra. Nevertheless, the same author earlier states that Helen, Castor and Pollux were produced from a single egg. Pseudo-Apollodorus states that Leda had intercourse with both Zeus and Tyndareus the night she conceived Helen. On the other hand, in the "Cypria", part of the Epic Cycle, Helen was the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis.
Helen Retires Helen Retires Helen Retires is the second opera by George Antheil. The libretto was written by John Erskine based on his novel "The Private Life of Helen of Troy" (1925). It was written in 1931 but not performed until 1934 when it was produced by the Juilliard School (where Erskine was president). The opera is a telling of the story of Helen of Troy after her husband's (Menelaos) death. It opens with his funeral banquet. Helen descends to the nether world to seek Achilles on the Island of the Blest. Finding Achilles the two return from Hades and proceed to