Leda and the Swan
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
One of the most remarkable attributes of Zeus is his ability to transform himself into any form he chooses. In his seductions of mortal women, he often lures them by taking the shape of some large but gentle animal, and finally, when they are caressing him, he overpowers and ravishes them.
Leda, wife of Tyndareus of Sparta, was another of Zeus’s mortal lovers. While walking beside the river Eurotas, she was ravished by Zeus, disguised as a swan. As a result, she laid two eggs from which four children were born: Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux, although only Helen and Pollux are considered children of Zeus. Leda is subsequently deified by Nemesis, the goddess of just retribution. In the oldest versions, Leda simply finds an egg containing the germ of Helen, daughter of Zeus and Nemesis. In that account, Nemesis tries to escape Zeus through metamorphosis, transforming herself into various animals in order to flee the god. But Zeus does exactly the same, countering her every change with one of his own, until at last she becomes a goose and he ravishes her in the form of a swan. She then lays the egg in a marsh, where Leda finds it. In other versions, Zeus, transformed into a swan and pretending to be in danger, takes refuge in the bosom of Nemesis and then ravishes her. Hermes places the egg between Leda’s thighs so that it is she who “brings it to light.”