Greek mythology
Polydeuces
The Divine Twin, Immortal Son of Zeus
One of the Dioscuri, divine twin of Castor and son of Zeus and Leda, patron of sailors and boxers, who shared his immortality so his mortal brother would not be lost.
- Mythology
- Greek mythology
- Appears in
- Leda and the Swan
Born from the same egg as Helen, Polydeuces was the divine half of the Dioscuri, his father Zeus, his immortality assured. His twin Castor, whose father was the mortal Tyndareus, was not so fortunate. When Castor was killed in a cattle raid, Polydeuces refused to accept the immortality that would separate them. He asked Zeus to let him share it: they would alternate between Olympus and the underworld, each spending one day alive and one day among the dead, never fully separated. Zeus granted this. The two brothers became the constellation Gemini and the patrons of sailors, appearing as St. Elmo's fire on mast-tops during storms at sea.
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