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 of Troy illustrations, this event was frequently portrayed as a seduction, whereas in Renaissance painting it was usually depicted as a rape by Paris. The etymology of Helen's name continues to be a problem for scholars. Georg Curtius related "Helen" () to the moon (Selene; ). Émile Boisacq considered Ἑλένη to derive from the noun meaning "torch". It has also been suggested that the λ of arose from an original ν, and thus the etymology of the name is connected with the root of "Venus". Linda Lee Clader, however, says that none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction. Inversely, others have