Tyndareus
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In Greek mythology, Tyndareus was a Spartan king.
Vase depicting the Dioskuri (either side) with Tyndareus (white beard) and Leda
Tyndareus's stepdaughter Helen of Troy
Illustration of Odysseus advising Tyndareus
Cratère de Vix 0011 cropped
Helen of Troy
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Helen, commonly known as Helen of Troy and sometimes as Helen of Sparta, is a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daugh
Tyndareus
…He married the Aetolian princess, Leda, by whom he became the father of Castor, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe and Philonoe, and the stepfather of Helen of Troy and Pollux. Tyndareus had a brother named Hippocoon, who seized power and exiled Tyndareus. He was reinstated by Heracles, who killed Hippocoon and his…
Helen of Sparta boards a ship for Troy, fresco from the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii
The Love of Helen and Paris by Jacques-Louis David (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)
The birth of Helen on an Athenian red-figure cup by the Xenotimos Painter, c. 430–420 BC. The egg, watched over by the eagle of Zeus, rests on an altar flanked by Tyndareus and Leda; behind Tyndareus stands Clytemnestra.
Leda and the Swan by Cesare da Sesto (c. 1506–1510, Wilton). The artist has been intrigued by the idea of Helen's unconventional birth; she and Clytemnestra are shown emerging from one egg; Castor and Pollux from another.