Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Polydeuces.
The gallery
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1618
In this Baroque tour de force, Rubens stages the abduction of Phoebe and Hilaeira, the betrothed daughters of Leucippus, by the heavenly twins Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux). The two muscular brothers, identifiable as the Dioscuri by their splendid horses, wrench the struggling sisters upward in a swirling diagonal of straining bodies, rearing steeds, and luminous flesh. Polydeuces, the immortal son of Zeus, grips one of the women as winged putti steady the horses, the composition spiralling into a perfect Baroque whirl of motion. Painted around 1618 and now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, the canvas (224 x 210.5 cm) is celebrated as one of the most dynamic interlockings of figures in Western painting.
Roman Sarcophagus Panel with the Rape of the Leucippides
Unknown (Roman), c. 160 CE
This marble front panel from a Roman sarcophagus, carved around 160 CE, depicts Castor and Polydeuces seizing Phoebe and Hilaeira, the daughters of Leucippus, and bearing them off on their horses. The Dioscuri are shown nude and athletic in the heroic manner, the relief alive with crowded, overlapping figures, plunging horses, and billowing drapery typical of mid-Antonine funerary sculpture. The abduction myth, ending in conflict and the eventual half-immortality the twins shared, was a fitting allegory of love seized and life carried beyond death. The piece is preserved in the Galleria dei Candelabri of the Vatican Museums (Inv. 2796).
Statuettes of Castor and Pollux
Unknown (Roman), First half of the 3rd century CE
This pair of Roman marble statuettes, dated to the first half of the 3rd century CE, presents Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux) as the matched Dioscuri twins, each standing beside his horse in mirrored symmetry. Polydeuces, the boxer and immortal son of Zeus, appears youthful and nude in the heroic mode, traditionally crowned with the pointed pilos cap and at times a star, marking the brothers as the patron saviours of sailors and protectors invoked at sea. The twin format underscores their inseparable bond and their shared apotheosis as the constellation Gemini. The sculptures are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In play
Pollux (star)
The brighter twin of Gemini bears Pollux's name — Polydeuces as the orange giant beside Castor in the zodiac.
Castor and Pollux
The immortal boxer who shares death with his brother remains half of the West's favourite twin myth — Polydeuces as the god who would not leave Castor behind.