Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1071

Rh DIOSCURI. nnair.ll way, but in such a manner that Polhix was the first born. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 88, 511.) According to others again, Polydeuces and Helena only were children of Zeus, and Castor was the son of Tyndareus. Hence, Polydeuces was im- mortal, while Csistor was subject to old age and death like every otlier mortal. (Pind. Nem. x. 80, with the Schol. ; Theocrit. xxiv. 130; ApoUod. iii. 10. § 7 ; Hygin. Fab. 77.) Thej' were bom, according to difterent traditions, at different pLices, such as Amyclae, mount Taygetus, the island of Pephnos, or Thalaniae. (Theocrit. xxii. 1*22 ; Virg. Gconf. iii. 89 ; Serv. ad Aen. x. 564 ; Horn. Hymn. xiii. 4 ; Paus. ii. 1. ^ 4, 21). § 2.) The fabulous life of the Dioscuri is marked by three great events : 1. Their expedition against Athens. Theseus had carried off their sister He- lena from Sparta, or, according to others, he had promised Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Apluireus, who had carried her off, to guard lier, and he kept her in confinement at Aphidnae, under the superintendence of his mother Aethra, While Theseus was absent from Attica and Menestheus was endeavouring to usurp the government, the Dioscuri marched into Attica, and ravaged the country round the city. Academus revealed to thera, that Helena was kept at Aphidnae (Herod. ix. 73), and the Dioscuri took the place by assault. They carried away their sister Helena, and Aethra ■was made their prisoner. (Apollod. /. c.) Menes- theus then opened to them also the gates of Athens, and Aphidnus adopted them as his sons, in order that, according to their desire, they might become initiated in the mysteries, and the Athenians paid divine honours to them. (Plut. lltes. 31, &c. ; Lycoph. 499.) 2. Tlieir part in the eapediiion of the Argonauts, as they had before taken part in the Calydonian hunt. (Apollon. Rhod. i. 149 ; Paus. iii. 24. § 5 ; Hygin. Fab. 173.) During the voyage of the Argonauts, it once happened, that when the heroes were detained by a vehe- ment storm, and Orpheus prayed to the Samo- thracian gods, the storm suddenly subsided, and stars appeared on the heads of the Dioscuri. (Diod. iv. 43 ; Plut. de Plac. Fhilos. ii. 18 ; Sc- nec. Quaeit. Nat. i. 1.) On tlieir arrival in the country of the Bebryces, Polydeuces fought against Amycus, the gigantic son of Poseidon, and con- quered him. During the Argonautic expedition they founded tlie town of Dioscurias. (Hj'gin. Fab. 175 ; P. Mela, i. 19 ; comp. Strab. xi. p. 49G ; Justin, xlii. 3 ; Plin. //. N. vi. 5.) 3. Their but- tle with the sons of Apliareus. The Dioscuri were charmed with the beauty of the daughters of Leu- cippus, Phoebe, a priestess of Athena,. and Hi- laeira or Elaeira, a priestess of Artemis : the Dioscuri cjirried them off, and married them. (Hygin. Fab. 80 ; Ov. Fast. v. 700 ; Schol. ad Find. Nem. x. 112.) Polydeuces became, by Phoebe, the father of Mnesileus, Mnesinous, or Asinous, and Castor, by Hilaeira, the father of Anogon, Anaxis, or Aulothus. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 511.) Once the Dioscuri, in conjunction with Id.Ts and Jjynceus, the sons of Aphareus, had car- ried away a herd of oxen from Arcadia, and it Avas left to Idas to divide the booty. He cut up a bull into four parts, and declared, that whichever of them should first succeed in eating his share should receive half the oxen, and the second should have the other half. Idas, thereupon, not only ate his own quarter, but devoured that of his bro- DI03CURI. 1053 therms in addition, and then drove the whole herd to his home in Mcssene. (Pind. Nem. x. 60 ; Apollod. iii. 11. $ 2; Lycoph. /. c.) The Dio*- curi then invaded Messene, drove away the cattle of which they had been deprived, and much nioro in .'iddition. This became the occasion of a war between the Dioscuri and the sons of Aphareus, which was carried on in Messene, or Lacpnia. In this war, the details of which are related dif- ferently, Castor, the mortal, fell by the hands of Idas, but Pollux slew Lynceus, and Zeus killed Idas by a flash of lightning. (Pind. Apollod. //. cc. ; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 1514; Theocrit. xxii. ; Hygin. Fab. 80, I^oet. Astr. ii. 22.) Polydeuces then I'etumed to his brother, whom he found breathing his last, and he prayed to Zeus, to be permitted to die with him. Zeus left him the option, either to live as his immortal son in Olympus, or to share his brother's fate, and to live, alternately, one day under the earth, and the other in the heavenly abodes of the gods. (Ilom. //. iii. 243 ; Pind. Nem. x. in fin. ; Hygin. Fab. 251.) According to a different foiin of the story, Zeus rewarded the attachment of the two brothers by placing them among the stars as Gemini. (Hygin. Foet. Astr. I. c. ; SchoL ad Eurip. Orest. 465.) These heroic youths, who were also believed to have reigned as Kings of Sparta (Paus. iii. 1. § 5), received divine honours at Sparta, though not till forty years after their war with the sons of Apha- reus. (Paus. iii. 13. §,1.) MiiUer {Dor. ii. 10. § 8) conceives that the worship of the Diosciui had a double source, viz. the heroic honours of the human Tyndaridae, and the worship of some ancient Pelo- ponnesian deities, so that in the process of time the attributes of the Litter were transferred to the for- mer, viz. the name of the sons of Zeus, the birth from an f^gg, and the like. Their worship spread from Peloponnesus over Greece, Sicily, and Italy. (Paus. X. 33. $ 3, 38. § 3.) Their principal characteristic was that of ^eol awrripes, that is, mighty helpers of man, whence they were sometimes called dvuKes or avuKTis. (Plut. Thes. 33 ; Strab. v. p. 232 ; Aelian, V. H. i. 30, iv. 5 ; Aristoph. Lysistr. 1301 ; Paus. i. 31. § 1, viii. 21, in fin.) They were, how- ever, worshipped more especially as the protectors of travellers by sea, for Poseidon had rewarded their brotherl}' love by giving them power over wind and waves, that they might assist the shipwrecked. {Hy^n.Foet.Aslr.l.c ; Eurip. //e/e/i. 1511 ; Hom. Hymn. xiii. 9 ; Strab. i. p. 48 ; Herat. Carm. i. 3. 2.) Out of this idea arose that of their being the protectors of travellers in general, and consequently of the law of hospittility also, the violation of which was punished severely by them. (Paus. iii. 16. § 3; Bockh, Fxplicat. ad Find. p. 135.) Their charac- ters as •7n)| ayaQ6s and iTrjroSa^itoj were combined into one, and both, whenever they did appear, were seea riding on magnificent white steeds. They were further regarded, like Hermes and Heracles, as the presidents of the public games (Pind. O/.iii. 38, Nem. X. 53), and at Sparta their statues stood at the entrance of the race-course. (Paus. iii. 14. § 7.) They were further believed to have invented the war-dance, and warlike music, and poets and barda were favoured by thenu (Cic. de Orat. ii. 86 ; Val. Maxim, i. 8. ^ 7.) Owing to their warlike charac- ter, it was customary at Sparta for the two kings, whenever they went out to war, to be accompanied by symbolic representations of the Dioscuri {UKova {