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Castor

A mortal son of Tyndareus and Leda, twin of the immortal Pollux, with whom he shared many adventures before dying and being granted a shared, alternating immortality by Zeus.

Accounts of this vary across texts and traditions. This entry primarily follows Greek mythology (Hesiod and Homer), with other tellings (Homer (Iliad and Odyssey), Ovid's Metamorphoses (Roman retelling), Regional and later Greek and Roman tradition) noted where relevant.

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Relationships

Parents
Leda
Siblings
Helen · Pollux (Polydeuces)

Introduction

Castor is the mortal twin brother of Pollux, son of Leda and her mortal husband Tyndareus (as distinct from Pollux, son of Zeus), though the two were raised together as the Dioscuri, "sons of Zeus", and their bond proved stronger than the difference in their parentage.

Family

Life and skills

Castor was especially known as a skilled horseman and warrior, complementing his brother Pollux's fame as a boxer, and the two fought and adventured together throughout their lives, including on the voyage of the Argonauts.

Death and reunion

Castor was killed, in the best-known version, in a feud over cattle and brides with their cousins Idas and Lynceus. Pollux, though he could have remained immortal and alone on Olympus, could not bear to be parted from his mortal brother, and asked Zeus to let them share Pollux's immortality between them. Zeus granted this, and the two now alternate between Olympus and the underworld, day by day, remaining together in either place; together they form the constellation Gemini and were widely invoked, especially by Roman sailors as the Castores, as protectors at sea.

Sources

  1. Bibliotheca, Book 3 (primary text) — https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html

This entry is independently written for myVamsam using the sources listed above. Where traditions differ, this entry identifies the relevant tradition rather than presenting one account as universally established fact.