Editing Castor and Pollux

{{Short description|Greek mythical twins}}
{{other uses}} {{redirect|Heavenly Twins}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Greek
| name         = Castor and Pollux καστωρ πολυδευκης
| deity_of     =Twin gods, patrons of sailors, associated with horsemanship
| member_of    = 
| image        = Castor Pollux anagoria.JPG
| alt          = <!-- for alternate text of the title image per [[WP:ALT]] -->
| caption      = Statues of Castor and Pollux (3rd century AD)
| other_names  = {{plainlist|
*Anakes
*Anaktes
*Dioskouroi (Latin, Dioscuri) 
*Gemini
*Castores
*Tyndarids
*Polydeuces (Latin, Pollux)
*The Two Gods}}
| cult_center  = [[Anakeion]]
| consort      = 
| parents      = {{plainlist|
*[[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] (mother)
*[[Tyndareus]] (father of Castor)
*[[Zeus]]–[[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] (father of Pollux)}}
| siblings     =[[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]], Phoebe, [[Philonoe]], [[Helen of Troy]] and [[Clytemnestra]]
| offspring    = 
| predecessor  =
| successor    =
| mount        = [[Horses]]
| gender       =Male
| Etruscan_equivalent            =  Kastur and Pultuce
| festivals    = {{plainlist|
* Anakeia or Anakeion
* Feast of the Dioskouroi (July 15)
}}
}}
'''Castor'''{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" |{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|s|t|ər}} {{respell|KAS|tər}}; {{langx|la|Castōr}}; {{langx|grc|Κάστωρ|Kástōr|beaver}}.}} and '''Pollux'''{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɒ|l|ə|k|s}} {{respell|POL|əks}}; {{langx|la|Pollūx|links=no}}.}} (or '''Polydeuces'''){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|{{IPAc-en|ˌ|p|ɒ|l|ᵻ|ˈ|dj|uː|s|iː|z}} {{respell|POL|ih|DEW|seez}}; {{langx|grc|Πολυδεύκης|Polydeúkēs|much sweet [wine]|links=no}}.<ref>{{Citation | contribution = Dioscuri | last = Bloomsbury | title = Dictionary of Myth | place = London | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | year = 1996}}</ref>}} are [[twin]] [[half-brother]]s in [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]], known together as the '''Dioscuri''' or '''Dioskouroi'''.{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" |{{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|aɪ|ə|ˈ|s|k|j|ʊər|aɪ|,_|d|aɪ|ˈ|ɒ|s|k|j|ʊ|r|aɪ|,_|-|r|i}} {{respell|DY|ə|SKURE|e(y)e|,_|dy|OSK|yuu|ry|,_-|ree}}; {{langx|la|Dioscūrī|links=no}}; {{langx|grc|Διόσκουροι|Dióskouroi|sons of Zeus|links=no}}, from ''Dîos'' ('[[Zeus]]') and ''[[Kouroi|koûroi]]'' ('boys').}}

Their mother was [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]], but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of [[Tyndareus]], the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of [[Zeus]], who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan.<ref>Compare [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Castor 1.9.16]</ref> The pair are thus an example of heteropaternal [[superfecundation]]. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters [[Helen of Troy]] and [[Clytemnestra]].

In Latin, the twins are also known as the '''Gemini''' ("twins") or '''Castores''', as well as the '''Tyndaridae''' or '''Tyndarids'''.{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" | {{langx|grc|Τυνδαρίδαι|Tundarídai|links=no}}.}} Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]]. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as [[St. Elmo's fire]]. They were also associated with horsemanship, in keeping with their origin as the [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Indo-European]] [[divine twins|horse twins]].

==Birth==
There is much contradictory information regarding the parentage of the Dioscuri. In the Homeric ''Odyssey'' (11.298–304), they are the sons of Tyndareus alone, but they were sons of Zeus in the Hesiodic ''Catalogue'' (fr. 24 M–W). The conventional account (attested first in Pindar, Nemean 10) combined these paternities so that only Pollux was fathered by Zeus, while Leda and her husband [[Tyndareus]] conceived Castor. This explains why they were granted an alternate immortality. The figure of Tyndareus may have entered their tradition to explain their archaic name ''Tindaridai'' in Spartan inscriptions, or ''Tyndaridai'' in literature,{{Sfn | Burkert | 1985 | p = 212}} in turn occasioning incompatible accounts of their parentage. Their other sisters were [[Timandra (mythology)|Timandra]], [[Phoebe (mythological characters)|Phoebe]], and [[Philonoe]].

Castor and Pollux are sometimes both mortal, sometimes both divine. One consistent point is that if only one of them is immortal, it is Pollux. In Homer's'' [[Iliad]]'', Helen looks down from the walls of Troy and wonders why she does not see her brothers among the Achaeans. The narrator remarks that they are both already dead and buried back in their homeland of Lacedaemon, thus suggesting that at least in some early traditions, both were mortal. Their death and shared immortality offered by Zeus was material of the lost ''[[Cypria]]'' in the [[Epic cycle]].

The Dioscuri were regarded as helpers of mankind and held to be patrons of travellers and of sailors in particular, who invoked them to seek favourable winds.<ref name = "Cotterell">{{citation | contribution = Dioscuri | title = A Dictionary of World Mythology | first = Arthur | last = Cotterell | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1997}}.</ref> Their role as horsemen and boxers also led to them being regarded as the patrons of athletes and athletic contests.<ref>{{Citation | chapter = Dioscūri | title = The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature | editor1-first = M. C. | editor1-last = Howatson | editor2-first = Ian | editor2-last = Chilvers | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1996}}.</ref> They characteristically intervened at the moment of crisis, aiding those who honoured or trusted them.<ref name="Roberts" />

==Classical sources==
[[Image:Kastor Niobid krater Louvre G341.jpg|upright|thumb|Castor on a [[calyx krater]] of {{Circa|460–450 BC}}, holding a horse's reins and spears and wearing a [[pilos]]-style helmet]]

Ancient Greek authors tell a number of versions of the story of Castor and Pollux. [[Homer]] portrays them initially as ordinary mortals, treating them as dead in the ''[[Iliad]]'':
: "...&nbsp;there are two commanders I do not see,
: Castor the horse breaker and the boxer
: Polydeuces<!--same name as Pollux-->, my brothers&nbsp;..."
:::: – [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], ''Iliad''<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |author-link=Homer |title=Iliad |at=[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16452/16452-h/16452-h.htm#page_074 3.253–e.255] |via=gutenberg.org }}</ref>
but in the ''[[Odyssey]]'' they are described as both being alive, even though "the grain-bearing earth holds them". The author describes them as "having honour equal to gods", living on alternate days because of the intervention of Zeus. In both the ''Odyssey'' and in [[Hesiod]], they are described as the sons of Tyndareus and Leda. In [[Pindar]], Pollux is the son of Zeus, while Castor is the son of the mortal Tyndareus. The theme of ambiguous parentage is not unique to Castor and Pollux; similar characterisations appear in the stories of [[Herakles]] and [[Theseus]].<ref name=Parker>{{cite dictionary |first = Robert Christopher Towneley |last = Parker  |year = 2003 |title = Dioscuri |dictionary = The Oxford Classical Dictionary |editor1-first = Simon |editor1-last = Hornblower |editor2-first = Anthony |editor2-last = Spawforth |publisher = Oxford University Press |place = Oxford, UK }}</ref> The Dioscuri are also invoked in [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]]' fragment&nbsp;34a,<ref>{{cite book |author = Alcæus of Mytilene |author-link = Alcaeus |year=1982 |title = Sappho, Alcaeus: Greek lyric |volume=I: Sappho and Alcaeus |section = Fragment&nbsp;34  |editor-first = David A. |editor-last = Campbell |doi=10.4159/DLCL.sappho_alcaeus_lyric_poet-fragments.1982 |section-url = https://www.loebclassics.com/view/alcaeus-fragments/1982/pb_LCL142.247.xml |quote = ''Incertum utrius auctoris fragmenta'' }}</ref> though whether this poem antedates the Homeric Hymn to the twins<ref>{{cite AV media |title = Homeric hymn number&nbsp;3 |medium = song lyrics |website = Theoi.com |url = http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns3.html#33 }}</ref> is unknown.<ref name= Campbell>{{cite book |first = David |last = Campbell  |year = 1967 |title = Greek Lyric Poetry |place = Bristol, UK |publisher = Classical Press }}</ref> They appear together in two plays by [[Euripides]], ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' and ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Elektra]]''.

[[Cicero]] tells the story of how [[Simonides of Ceos]] was rebuked by Scopas, his patron, for devoting too much space to praising Castor and Pollux in an ode celebrating Scopas' victory in a [[chariot race]]. Shortly afterwards, Simonides was told that two young men wished to speak to him; after he had left the banqueting room, the roof fell in and crushed Scopas and his guests.<ref name=Roberts/>

According to the ancient sources the horse of Castor was named ''Cyllarus''.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=William |editor-last=Smith |year=1873 |orig-year=1848 |section=Cyllarus |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |place=London, UK |publisher=John Murray |section-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D41%3Aentry%3Dcyllarus-bio-1 |via=[[Tufts University]] perseus.tufts.edu }}</ref>

[[File:Boiotian proxeny decree with relief of Athena and Dioskouroi (Boston MFA 1987.297).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Boeotian]] [[proxeny]] stele depicting baby [[Herakles]] strangling snakes (top), and [[Athena Alea]] and the ''Dioskouroi'' above a warship (369–363 {{sc|BCE}})]]

==Mythology==
Both Dioscuri were excellent horsemen and hunters who participated in the hunting of the [[Calydonian Boar]] and later joined the crew of [[Jason]]'s ship, the ''[[Argo]]''.

===As Argonauts===
During the expedition of the [[Argonauts]],<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.16&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Castor 1.9.16]</ref> Pollux took part in a boxing contest and defeated King [[Amykos|Amycus]] of the [[Bebryces]], a savage mythical people in [[Bithynia]]. After returning from the voyage, the Dioscuri helped Jason and [[Peleus]] to destroy the city of [[Iolcus]] in revenge for the treachery of its king [[Pelias]].

===Rescuing Helen===
When their sister Helen was abducted by [[Theseus]], the half-brothers invaded his kingdom of [[Attica]] to rescue her. In revenge they abducted Theseus's mother [[Aethra (Greek mythology)|Aethra]] and took her to Sparta while setting his rival, [[Menestheus]], on the throne of Athens. Aethra was then forced to become Helen's slave. She was ultimately returned to her home by her grandsons [[Demophon of Athens|Demophon]] and [[Acamas]] after the fall of [[Troy]].

===Leucippides, Lynceus, and death===
[[Image:Peter Paul Rubens - The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus.jpg|thumb|''[[The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus]]'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]], {{Circa|1618}}]]
Castor and Pollux aspired to marry the Leucippides ("daughters of the white horse"), [[Phoebe (Leucippides)|Phoebe]] and [[Hilaeira]], whose father was [[Leucippus (son of Perieres)|Leucippus]] ("white horse").{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" |[[Phoebe (Leucippides)|Phoebe]] ("the pure") is a familiar epithet of the moon, [[Selene]]; her twin's name Hilaeira ("the serene") is also a lunar attribute, their names "appropriate selectively to the new and the full moon".{{Sfn | Kerényi | 1959 | p = 109}}}}  Both women were already betrothed to cousins of the Dioscuri, the twin brothers [[Lynceus (Argonaut)|Lynceus]] and [[Idas]] of [[Messenia (ancient region)|Messenia]], sons of [[Tyndareus]]'s brother [[Aphareus of Messenia|Aphareus]].  Castor and Pollux carried the women off to [[Sparta]] wherein each had a son; Phoebe bore Mnesileos to Pollux and Hilaeira bore Anogon to Castor. This began a family feud among the four sons of the brothers Tyndareus and Aphareus.<!--How are they cousins? Not explained.-->

The cousins carried out a cattle-raid in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]] together but fell out over the division of the meat. After stealing the herd, but before dividing it, the cousins butchered, quartered, and roasted a calf.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Citation | first = Potis | last = Stratikis | year = 1987 | title = Ελληνική Μυθολογία | trans-title = Greek Mythology | volume = II | language = Greek | location = Athens | pages = 20–23}}.</ref> As they prepared to eat, the gigantic Idas suggested that the herd be divided into two parts instead of four, based on which pair of cousins finished their meal first.<ref name= "ReferenceA"/> Castor and Pollux agreed.<ref name= "ReferenceA" /> Idas quickly ate both his portion and Lynceus' portion.<ref name= "ReferenceA" /> Castor and Pollux had been duped. They allowed their cousins to take the entire herd, but vowed someday to take revenge.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Some time later, Idas and Lynceus visited their uncle's home in Sparta.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The uncle was on his way to Crete, so he left Helen in charge of entertaining the guests, which included both sets of cousins, as well as Paris, prince of Troy.<ref name = "ReferenceA" /> Castor and Pollux recognized the opportunity to exact revenge, made an excuse that justified leaving the feast, and set out to steal their cousins' herd.<ref name= "ReferenceA" /> Idas and Lynceus eventually set out for home, leaving Helen alone with Paris, who then kidnapped her.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Thus, the four cousins helped set into motion the events that gave rise to the Trojan War.

[[File:I dioscuri a cavallo sostenuti da tritoni, dal santuario di marasà a locri, 450-400 ac ca. 01.jpg|thumb|A twin  supported by [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]], from a [[Locrians|Locrian]] sculpture group (latter 5th century BCE)]]
Meanwhile, Castor and Pollux had reached their destination. Castor climbed a tree to keep a watch as Pollux began to free the cattle. Far away, Idas and Lynceus approached. Lynceus, named for the lynx because he could see in the dark, spied Castor hiding in the tree.<ref name= "ReferenceA"/> Idas and Lynceus immediately understood what was happening. Idas, furious, ambushed Castor, fatally wounding him with a blow from his spear – but not before Castor called out to warn Pollux.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the ensuing brawl, Pollux killed Lynceus. As Idas was about to kill Pollux, Zeus, who had been watching from [[Mount Olympus]], hurled a thunderbolt, killing Idas and saving his son.<ref name = "ReferenceA" />

Returning to the dying Castor, Pollux was given the choice by Zeus of spending all his time on [[Mount Olympus]] or giving half his immortality to his mortal brother. He opted for the latter, enabling the twins to alternate between Olympus and [[Greek underworld|Hades]].<ref name="EB">"Dioscuri". ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' 2008.</ref><ref>{{Citation | contribution = Castor and Polydeuces | title = Who's Who in Classical Mythology | last = Routledge | place = London | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002}}.</ref> The brothers became the two brightest stars in the constellation [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]] ("the twins"): [[Castor (star)|Castor]] ([[Alpha Geminorum]]) and [[Pollux (star)|Pollux]] ([[Beta Geminorum]]). As emblems of immortality and death, the Dioscuri, like [[Heracles]], were said to have been initiated into the [[Eleusinian mysteries]].{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" |In the oration of the Athenian peace emissary sent to Sparta in 69, according to [[Xenophon]] (''Hellenica'' VI), it was asserted that "these three heroes were the first strangers upon whom this gift was bestowed."<ref>{{Citation | author-link = Karl Kerényi | first = Karl | last = Kerényi | year = 1967 | title = Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter | place = Princeton | publisher = Bollingen | page = 122}}.</ref>}} In some myths, [[Poseidon]] rewarded them with horses to ride and power to aid shipwrecked men.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[De astronomia]]'' 2.22.2</ref>

{{Wide image|Dioscuri rape Vatican Inv2796.jpg|800px|Roman sarcophagus (160 CE) depicting the rape of the Leucippides, Phoebe and Hilaeira ''(Vatican Museum)''|box width|center|alt=alt text}}

==Iconography==
[[File:Antiochos VI with Dioscuri.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Antiochus VI]] with Dioskouroi]]
Castor and Pollux are consistently associated with horses in art and literature. They are widely depicted as helmeted horsemen carrying spears.<ref name="EB" /> The Pseudo-[[Oppian]] manuscript depicts the brothers hunting, both on horseback and on foot.<ref name="Kazhdan">{{Citation | first1 = Alexander | last1 = Kazhdan | first2 = Alice-Mary | last2 = Talbot | author2-link=Alice-Mary Talbot |contribution = Dioskouroi | title = The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium | editor-first = Alexander P | editor-last = Kazhdan | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991}}.</ref>

[[File:Castor or Pollux, probably Italy, 2nd century CE - Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - DSC08246.JPG|thumb|upright|One of the twins wearing the egg-shaped cap, here marked with a celestial symbol (2nd century CE)]]
On [[votive]] reliefs they are depicted with a variety of symbols representing the concept of twinhood, such as the ''dokana'' (δόκανα – two upright pieces of wood connected by two cross-beams), a pair of [[amphora]]e, a pair of shields, or a pair of snakes. They are also often shown wearing felt caps, sometimes with stars above.  They are depicted on [[metope (architecture)|metopes]] (an element of a Doric frieze) from [[Delphi]] showing them on the voyage of the ''Argo'' (Ἀργώ) and rustling cattle with Idas. [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek vases]] regularly show them capturing Phoebe and Hilaeira, as [[Argonauts]], as well as in religious ceremonies and at the delivery to [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] of the egg containing Helen.<ref name="Parker" /> They can be recognized in some vase-paintings by the [[Pileus (hat)|skull-cap]] they wear, the ''pilos'' (πῖλος), which was already explained in antiquity as the remnants of the egg from which they hatched.{{Refn |{{Citation | author-link = Scholium| last = Scholiast | title = [[Lycophron]]}}.{{Sfn | Kerényi | 1959 | p = 107 note 584}}}}

They were described by [[Dares Phrygius]] as "blond haired, large eyed, fair complexioned, and well-built with trim bodies".<ref>Dares of Phrygia. ''History of the Fall of Troy 12. A'' short prose work which purports to be a first hand account of the Trojan War by Dares, a Trojan priest of Hephaestus in the ''Iliad''.</ref>

===Dokana===
Dokana were ancient symbolical representation of the Dioscuri. It consisted of two upright beams with others laid across them transversely. The Dioscuri were worshipped as gods of war, and their images accompanied the Spartan kings whenever they took the field against an enemy. But when in the year 504 B.C. the two kings, during their invasion of Attica, failed in their undertaking on account of their secret enmity towards each other, it was decreed at Sparta, that in future only one king should command the army, and in consequence should only be accompanied by one of the images of the Dioscuri. It is not improbable that these images, accompanying the kings into the field, were the ancient δόκανα, which were now disjointed, so that one-half of the symbol remained at Sparta, while the other was taken into the field by one of the kings.<ref name="A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities">[https://archive.org/details/adictionarygree05smitgoog/page/418/mode/2up A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Dokana]</ref>

The name δόκανα seems that it comes from δοκός which meant beam, but [[Suda]] and the [[Etymologicum Magnum]] state that δόκανα was the name of the graves of the Dioscuri at Sparta, and derived from the verb δέχομαι.<ref name="A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities"/>

==Shrines and rites==
[[Image:RomaForoRomanoTempioCastori.jpg|thumb|upright|Fragmentary remains of the [[Temple of Castor and Pollux]] in [[Rome]]]]

The Dioskouroi were worshipped by the Greeks and Romans alike; there were temples to the twins in [[Athens]], such as the [[Anakeion]], and [[Rome]], as well as shrines in many other locations in the ancient world.<ref>{{Citation | contribution = Dioscuri | title = A Dictionary of the Bible | first = W. R. F. | last = Browning | author-link=W. R. F. Browning | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1997}}.</ref>

The Dioskouroi and their sisters grew up in [[Sparta]], in the royal household of [[Tyndareus]]; they were particularly important to the [[Sparta]]ns, who associated them with the Spartan tradition of dual kingship and appreciated that two princes of their ruling house were elevated to immortality. Their connection there was very ancient: a uniquely Spartan aniconic representation of the Tyndaridai was as two upright posts joined by a cross-bar;{{Sfn | Burkert | 1985}}{{Sfn | Kerényi | 1959 | p = 107}} as the protectors of the Spartan army the "beam figure" or ''dókana'' was carried in front of the army on campaign.<ref>{{citation | first1 = Nicholas "Nick" Victor | last1 = Sekunda | first2 = Richard | last2 = Hook | title = The Spartan Army | page = 53 | publisher = Osprey Publishing | year = 1998 | isbn = 1-85532-659-0}}.</ref> Sparta's unique dual kingship reflects the divine influence of the Dioscuri. When the Spartan army marched to war, one king remained behind at home, accompanied by one of the Twins. "In this way the real political order is secured in the realm of the Gods".{{Sfn | Burkert | 1985 | p = 212}}

Their ''herōon'' or grave-shrine was on a mountain top at [[Therapne]] across the [[Eurotas]] from Sparta, at a shrine known as the ''Meneláeion'' where Helen, Menelaus, Castor and Pollux were all said to be buried. Castor himself was also venerated in the region of [[Kastoria]] in northern Greece.

[[File:Dioskouroi theoxenia Louvre Ma746.jpg|thumb|upright|Relief (2nd century BCE) depicting the Dioskouroi galloping above a winged Victory, with a banquet ''(theoxenia)'' laid out for them below]]
They were commemorated both as gods on Olympus worthy of [[Holocaust (sacrifice)|holocaust]], and as deceased mortals in Hades, whose spirits had to be propitiated by [[libation]]s. Lesser shrines to Castor, Pollux and Helen were also established at a number of other locations around Sparta.<ref>{{Citation | first = Sarah B | last = Pomeroy | author-link = Sarah B. Pomeroy | title = Spartan Women | page = 114 | publisher = Oxford University Press | place = US | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-19-513067-7}}.</ref> The [[pear]] tree was regarded by the Spartans as sacred to Castor and Pollux, and images of the twins were hung in its branches.<ref>{{Citation | first = Guy | last = Davenport | title = Objects on a Table: Harmonious Disarray in Art and Literature | page = 63 | publisher = Basic Books | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-58243-035-7}}.</ref> The standard Spartan oath was to swear "by the two gods" (in [[Doric Greek]]: νά τώ θεὼ, ''ná tō theō'', in the [[Dual grammatical number|Dual number]]).

The rite of ''[[theoxenia]]'' (θεοξενία), "god-entertaining", was particularly associated with Castor and Pollux. The two deities were summoned to a table laid with food, whether at individuals' own homes or in the public hearths or equivalent places controlled by states. They are sometimes shown arriving at a gallop over a food-laden table. Although such "table offerings" were a fairly common feature of Greek cult rituals, they were normally made in the shrines of the gods or heroes concerned. The domestic setting of the ''theoxenia'' was a characteristic distinction accorded to the Dioskouroi.<ref name="Parker" />

The image of the twins attending a goddess are widespread{{Refn | group = "lower-alpha" |Kerényi draws attention especially to the rock carvings in the town of Akrai, Sicily.{{Sfn | Kerényi | 1959 | p = 111}}}} and link the Dioskouroi with the male societies of initiates under the aegis of the [[Cybele|Anatolian Great Goddess]]{{Sfn | Burkert | 1985 | p = 212}} and the great gods of [[Samothrace]]. During the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], the Dioscuri were venerated in [[Naucratis|Naukratis]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hockmann|first=Ursula|title=Amilla: The Quest for Excellence. Studies Presented to Guenter Kopcke in Celebration of His 75th Birthday|publisher=INSTAP Academic Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1931534734|editor-last=Koehl|editor-first=Robert B.|pages=367–368}}</ref> The Dioscuri are the inventors of war dances, which characterize the [[Kuretes]].

Anakeia (ἀνάκεια) or Anakeion (ἀνάκειον) was a festival held at Athens in honor of the Dioscuri who also had the name Anakes (Ἄνακες).<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D15%3Aentry%3Danakeia-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Anakeia]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=anakeia-cn&highlight=anakeia A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Anakeia]</ref>

==City of Dioscurias==
[[File:Las Incantadas Louvre Ma1392 side A.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|One of the Dioscuri, on a [[Las Incantadas]] pillar (2nd century CE)]]
The ancient city of Dioscurias or Dioskurias (Διοσκουριάς) on the [[Black Sea]] coast, modern [[Sokhumi]], was named after them. In addition, according to legend the city was founded by them.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/206#275 Hyginus, Fabulae, 275]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/145#1.111 Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, 1.111]</ref> According to another legend, the city was founded by their [[chariot]]eers, Amphitus and Cercius of [[Sparta]].<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/493#22.8.24 Ammianus Marcellinus, History, 22.8.24]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/747#15.17 Solinus, Polyhistor, 15.17]</ref>

==Island of Dioscuri==
The island of [[Socotra]], located between the [[Guardafui Channel]] and the [[Arabian Sea]], was called by the Greeks ''Dioskouridou'' (Διοσκουρίδου νήσος), meaning "the island of the Dioscuri".

==Ahenobarbus/Aenobarbus==
The name Ahenobarbus/Aenobarbus (Ἀηνόβαρβος) comes from a plebeian family of the [[Domitia gens]], known for their distinctive red hair which many of this family had. The origin of the name, meaning "Brazen-bearded," is explained through a myth that ties the family to the Dioscuri. According to the legend, one of the family's ancestors was informed by the Dioscuri of the Roman victory over the [[Latin League]] at the [[Battle of Lake Regillus]]. To prove the truth of their message, the Dioscuri allegedly stroked his black hair and beard, which then turned red.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=ahenobarbus-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Ahenobarbus]</ref>
<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=ahenobarbus-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Ahenobarbus]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=aenobarbus-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Aenobarbus]</ref>

==Indo-European analogues==
{{Main|Divine twins}}

The heavenly twins appear in [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] tradition as the effulgent [[Vedic period|Vedic]] brother-horsemen called the [[Ashvins]],{{Sfn | Burkert | 1985 | p = 212}}<ref name="Roberts">{{Citation | contribution = Dioscūri | place = Oxford | title = Dictionary of the Classical World | editor-first = John | editor-last = Roberts | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2007}}.</ref> [[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanian]] [[Ašvieniai]], and possibly Germanic [[Alcis (gods)|Alcis]].<ref name="Tacitus, Germania 43">Tacitus, ''Germania'' 43.</ref>{{Sfn | Maier | 1997 | p = 96}}

==Etruscan Kastur and Pultuce==
The [[Etruscans]] venerated the twins as ''Kastur'' and ''Pultuce'', collectively as the ''tinas cliniiaras'', "Sons of [[Tinia]]", Etruscan counterpart of Zeus. They were often portrayed on Etruscan mirrors.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Giuliano | last1 = Bonfante | author-link = Giuliano Bonfante | first2 = Larissa | last2 = Bonfante | author2-link = Larissa Bonfante | title = The Etruscan Language | page = 204 | publisher = Manchester University Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-7190-5540-7}}.</ref> As was the fashion in Greece, they could also be portrayed symbolically; one example is seen in the [[Tomba del Letto Funebre|Tomb of the Funereal Bed]] at [[Tarquinia]] where a ''[[lectisternium]]'' is painted for them. Another is symbolised in a painting depicted as two pointed caps crowned with laurel, referring to the [[Phrygian cap]]s.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Nancy Thomson | last1 = de Grummond | first2 = Erika | last2 = Simon | title = The Religion of the Etruscans | page = 60 | publisher = University of Texas Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-292-70687-1}}.</ref>

==Italy and the Roman Empire==
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From the 5th century BCE onwards, the brothers were revered by the Romans, probably as the result of cultural transmission via the Greek colonies of [[Magna Graecia]] in southern Italy. An archaic Latin inscription of the 6th or 5th century BCE found at [[Lavinium]], which reads ''Castorei Podlouqueique qurois'' ("To Castor and Pollux, the Dioskouroi"), suggests a direct transmission from the Greeks; the word "qurois" is virtually a [[transliteration]] of the Greek word ''κούροις'', while "Podlouquei" is effectively a transliteration of the Greek ''Πολυδεύκης''.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = Mary | last1 = Beard | first2 = John | last2 = North | first3 = Simon | last3 = Price | title = Religions of Rome | volume = 1. A History | page = 21 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-521-45646-0}}.</ref>{{verification needed|date=July 2024}}

[[File:Castor and Pollux (Dioscuri), terracotta Roman oil lamp 1st cent. AD, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich (8957172929).jpg|thumb|upright|Star crosses indicate the constellation Gemini on this Roman oil lamp (1st century CE)]]
The construction of the [[Temple of Castor and Pollux]], located in the [[Roman Forum]] at the heart of their city, was undertaken to fulfill a vow ''([[votum]])'' made by [[Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis]] in gratitude at the Roman victory in the [[Battle of Lake Regillus]] in 495 BCE. The establishment of a temple may also be a form of ''[[evocatio]]'', the transferral of a [[tutelary deity#Ancient Rome|tutelary deity]] from a defeated town to Rome, where cult would be offered [[do ut des|in exchange for favor]].<ref>{{Citation | first = Christopher | last = Smith | contribution = The Religion of Archaic Rome | title = A Companion to Roman Religion | publisher = Blackwell | year = 2007 | page = 37}}.</ref> According to legend, the twins fought at the head of the Roman army and subsequently brought news of the victory back to Rome.<ref name="EB" /> The [[Locri]]ans of [[Magna Graecia]] had attributed their success at a legendary battle on the banks of the Sagras to the intervention of the Twins. The Roman legend could have had its origins in the Locrian account and possibly supplies further evidence of cultural transmission between Rome and Magna Graecia.<ref>{{Citation | author-link = Theodor Mommsen | first = Theodor | last = Mommsen | title = The History of Rome | volume = II | page = 191 | publisher=Kessinger Publishing | year = 2004 | isbn = 1-4191-6625-5}}.</ref>

The Romans believed that the twins aided them on the battlefield.<ref name = "Cotterell" /> Their role as horsemen made them particularly attractive to the Roman ''[[Equestrian order|equites]]'' and cavalry. Each year on July 15, Feast Day of the Dioskouroi, 1,800 equestrians would parade through the streets of Rome in an elaborate spectacle in which each rider wore full military attire and whatever decorations he had earned.<ref>{{Citation | first = Myles Anthony | last = McDonnell | title = Roman Manliness | page = 187 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-521-82788-4}}.</ref>

Castor and Pollux are also represented in the [[Circus Maximus]] by the use of eggs as lap counters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/colosseum/circus-maximus.htm|title=Circus Maximus|website=www.tribunesandtriumphs.org}}</ref>

In translations of comedies by [[Plautus]], women generally swear by Castor, and men by Pollux; this is exemplified by the slave-woman character Staphyla in ''A Pot of Gold'' (act i, ll. 67–71) where she swears by Castor in line 67, then the negative prefix in line 71 denotes a refutation against swearing by Pollux.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/plautus/aulularia.shtml|title=Plautus: Aulularia}}</ref>

[[Photius]] wrote that Polydeuces was a lover of [[Hermes]], and the god made him a gift of Dotor ({{langx|grc|Δώτορ}}), the [[Thessalian]] horse.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/237#190.50 Photius, Bibliotheca excerpts, 190.50]</ref><ref>[http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/photius/ptolemee.htm Photius, Bibliotheca excerpts - GR]</ref>

===Christianization===
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Even after the rise of [[Christianity]], the Dioskouroi continued to be venerated. The 5th century pope [[Gelasius I]] attested to the presence of a "cult of Castores" that the people did not want to abandon. In some instances, the twins appear to have simply been absorbed into a Christian framework; thus 4th century CE pottery and carvings from North Africa depict the Dioskouroi alongside the [[Twelve Apostles]], the [[Raising of Lazarus]] or with [[Saint Peter]]. The church took an ambivalent attitude, rejecting the immortality of the Dioskouroi but seeking to replace them with equivalent Christian pairs. Saints Peter and [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] were thus adopted in place of the Dioskouroi as patrons of travelers, and [[Saints Cosmas and Damian]] took over their function as healers. Some have also associated Saints [[Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Melapsippus]] with the Dioskouroi.<ref name="Kazhdan" />

The New Testament scholar [[Dennis MacDonald]] identifies Castor and Pollux as models for [[James son of Zebedee]] and his brother [[John the Apostle|John]] in the [[Mark the Evangelist|Gospel of Mark]].<ref>{{citation | first=Dennis | last=MacDonald | author-link=Dennis MacDonald | chapter=Sons of thunder | title=The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2000 | pages=24–32 | isbn=0-300-08012-3}}</ref> MacDonald cites the origin of this identification to 1913 when [[J. Rendel Harris]] published his work [[Boanerges]], a Greek version probably of an Aramaic name meaning "Sons of [[Thunder]]", thunder being associated with [[Zeus]], father of Pollux, in what MacDonald calls a form of early Christian Dioscurism.<ref>{{citation|last=Harris|first=J. Rendel|title=Boanerges|url=https://archive.org/details/boanerges00harruoft|pages=1–4|year=1913|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author-link=J. Rendel Harris}}</ref>

More directly, the [[Acts of the Apostles]] mentions the Dioskouroi in a neutral context, as the figurehead of an Alexandrian ship boarded by Paul in Malta ([[Acts 28]]:11).

==Gallery==
The iconography of Castor and Pollux influenced or has close parallels with depictions of divine male twins in cultures with Greco-Roman relations.
<!--gallery is arranged chronologically - PLEASE READ INTRO TO SECTION-->
{{Gallery
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|File:Dedication Dioskouroi Met L.2008.1.1.jpg|Etruscan inscription to the Dioskouroi as "sons of Zeus" at the bottom of an [[Red-figure pottery|Attic red-figure]] [[kylix (drinking cup)|kylix]] (c. 515–510 BC)
|File:Stele dedicata a Castore e Polluce 1ST94911.tif|Limestone stele from [[Roman Egypt]] with a star connected to each twin's head (30 BCE – 395 CE)
|File:Plate youths winged horses Met 63.152.jpg|[[Sassanian]] silver platter with warrior twins on winged horses (5th/6th century CE)
|File:Textielschat02.jpg|[[Byzantine silk]] textile with elevated twins receiving offerings (7th/8th century CE)
|File:WLANL - Artshooter - Zeus, Hera en Amor observeren de geboorte van Helena en de Dioskuren.jpg|Zeus, [[Hera]], and [[Cupid|Amor]] observe the birth of Helen and Dioscuri (Dutch [[Tin-glazed pottery|majolica]], 1550)
}}

==See also==
* [[Ambulia]], a Spartan epithet used for [[Athena]], [[Zeus]], and Castor and Pollux
* [[Alexiares and Anicetus]], twin-sons of [[Heracles]]/[[Hercules]] and [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]]/[[Juventas]]; alongside their father, they are the guardians of the gates of [[Mount Olympus]].  
* [[Ashvins]], the divine twins of Vedic mythology
* [[Ašvieniai]], the divine twins in Lithuanian mythology
* [[Laconian (dog)|Castorian (dog)]], extinct dog breed said to have been bred by Castor
* [[Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea]], twins gods in Mesopotamian mythology also thought to be represented by the constellation Gemini
* [[Superfecundation|Heteropaternal superfecundation]], when two males father fraternal twins
* [[Janus]]
* [[Nio (Buddhism)|Nio]]
* [[Ox-Head and Horse-Face|Gozu and Mezu]]
* [[Thracian horseman]], sometimes linked to the Dioscuri

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation | author-link = Walter Burkert| last = Burkert | first = Walter | year = 1985 | title = Greek Religion | place = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | pages = 212–13}}.
* {{Citation | author-link = Karl Kerényi | last = Kerényi | first = Karl | year = 1959 | title = The Heroes of the Greeks | publisher = Thames and Hundson | pages = 105–12 ''et passim''}}.
* {{Citation | first = Bernhard | last = Maier | title = Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture | publisher = Boydell & Brewer | year = 1997}}.
* {{Citation | author-link = Pindar | last = Pindar | title = Tenth Nemean Ode}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000063/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130414133417/http://www.arsdisputandi.org/index.html?http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000063/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2013-04-14 | last = Ringleben | first = Joachim | contribution = An Interpretation of the 10th Nemean Ode | title = Ars Disputandi | translator = Douglas Hedley and Russell Manning}}. [[Pindar]]'s themes of the unequal brothers and faithfulness and salvation, with the Christian parallels in the dual nature of Christ.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Dioskouroi.html | publisher = Theoi Project | title = Ouranios | contribution = Dioskouroi}}.  Excerpts in English of classical sources.
* Walker, Henry J. ''The Twin Horse Gods: The Dioskouroi in Mythologies of the Ancient World''. London, New York: I. B. Tauris, 2015.

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=De Grummond |first1=Nancy Thomson |author1-link=Nancy Thomson de Grummond |title=Etruscan Twins and Mirror Images: The Dioskouroi at the Door |journal=Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin |date=1991 |volume= |issue= |pages=10–31 |doi= |jstor=40514336 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40514336 |access-date= |issn=0084-3539 |id={{JSTOR|40514336}}}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Lippolis |first1=Enzo |author1-link= |title=Rituali Di Guerra: I Dioscuri a Sparta e a Taranto |journal=Archeologia Classica |date=2009 |volume=60 |issue= |pages=117–159 |doi= |jstor=44367982 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44367982 |access-date= |language=it |issn=0391-8165 |id={{JSTOR|44367982}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Robbins |first1=Emmet |title=Thalia Delighting in Song: Essays on Ancient Greek Poetry |date=2013 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto Buffalo |isbn=978-1-4426-1343-0 |pages=238–253 |chapter=The Divine Twins in Early Greek Poetry}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Castor and Pollux}}
{{EB1911 poster|Castor and Pollux}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000299 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Castor and Pollux—the Dioscuri)] 

{{Roman religion}}
{{Authority control|additional=Q11294144, Q12046224}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castor And Pollux}}
[[Category:Castor and Pollux| ]]
[[Category:Argonauts]]
[[Category:Astronomical myths]]
[[Category:Characters in the Argonautica]]
[[Category:Children of Leda (mythology)]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Chthonic beings]]
[[Category:Cybele]]
[[Category:Deeds of Poseidon]]
[[Category:Divine twins]]
[[Category:Family of Calyce (mythology)]]
[[Category:Gemini in astrology]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]
[[Category:Greek underworld]]
[[Category:Greek war deities|Dioscuri]]
[[Category:Horse deities]]
[[Category:Mythological Laconians]]
[[Category:Life-death-rebirth gods]]
[[Category:Princes in Greek mythology]]