Mythologies compared!

[Loge]

The story of Leda states that Zeus (Ezus, Iezus, Jesus) in the guise of a swan sought shelter with Leda and in this guise he won her affection and later impregnated her. The result of this union was an egg that gives birth to the twins Castor and Pollux the forefathers of Helen or the Hellenics, the Greeks and perhaps other races.

Artists down through the centuries made much of this story. They assumed that Leda was nude when she encountered Zeus in a pond much like swans are known to frequent. Perhaps she went to the pond to bathe. She is portrayed prior to the sex act, during it, and later contemplating the egg. Of particular interest is not only whether she is penetrated in the normal way but whether the bird's beak penetrates her as well. There is also an issue of the bird's size. Though she is unwilling it may not be correct to say that she was raped. The situation seems to suggest some form of unbridled passion from which she somehow benefits. The offspring of Zeus are invariably remarkable and it may be that she is supposed to realize that she is reaping the benefits of Zeus.

That Leda must have been very beautiful is a conclusion from the fact that Zeus was attracted to her. And a beautiful mother is more likely to have beautiful children. This makes a nude Leda covorting with a beautiful swan all the more compelling.

Leda can be compared to Mary in the Christian tradition. Both women became pregnant by divine intervention. Jesus, son of Mary, was born under strange circumstances, struggled in his life and was crucified. Helen, daughter of Leda was born under strange circumstances, struggled in her life, and was crucified.

Some traditions have Mary give birth to twins, one divine, Jesus, and one mortal, Thomas. Leda gives birth to twins Castor and Pollux, one divine and one mortal. The meaning of the egg in the Leda story may be very similar to the meaning of the egg in the Easter story.

Thomas is called Didymus, a name by which the apostle is also called in the gospel of John, means twin in Greek. Perhaps some regarded the two as blood brothers. Perhaps the twinship was regarded as spiritual or symbolic. Sometimes, as in the Christian Gnostic systems, Thomas seems to be the worldly reflection or image of a divine savior-figure, an earthly body inhabited by a spirit like the savior's. In any event Thomas became a focus of special reverence.

Edited April 29, 2005 by Loge