Leda - Leda (English spelling)

A woman who appears in Greek mythology. Daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolian region, and mother of Helen. King Tyndareus of Sparta was driven from his homeland and sought refuge with Thestius, but after achieving military success there, he married Leda and returned to his homeland. However, on the same night that Zeus, who had transformed into a swan, made love to her, he also had sex with her, and she gave birth to Polydeuces and Helen, who were of divine descent, and Castor and Clytemnestra, who were of human descent. Another version says that Leda took the egg born between Nemesis, who had transformed into a goose, and Zeus, who was in the form of a swan, and took Helen, who hatched from the egg, as her own daughter. There is also a theory that Leda, who was loved by the swan (Zeus), gave birth to the egg herself.

[Tetsuro Nakatsuka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ギリシア神話に登場する女性。アイトリア地方の王テスティオスの娘で、ヘレネの母。スパルタ王ティンダレオスは、祖国を追われてテスティオスのもとに身を寄せるが、そこで戦功をたててレダを妻にもらい受け、帰国する。しかし、白鳥に変身したゼウスが彼女に通じたその同じ夜に彼も交わったため、彼女は神の血を引くポリデウケスとヘレネ、人間の血を引くカストルとクリタイムネストラを生んだ。異伝では、鵞鳥(がちょう)に変じたネメシスと白鳥姿のゼウスの間に生まれた卵をレダが預り、そこから孵化(ふか)したヘレネを自分の娘にしたともいう。さらに、白鳥（ゼウス）の愛を受けたレダ自身が卵を生んだという説もある。

［中務哲郎］

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