What is the name of Helen of Troys mother?
As with most mythology, the story is not so straight forward (she says before drawing a deep breath . . .) Leda was married to Tyndareus (a king of Sparta). She was mother to Helen, the heroine Clytemnestra, and the twins Castor and Polydeuces. According to legend, Zeus appeared to Leda in the guise of a swan (he may have been being chased by an eagle and sought refuge with Leda). Zeus made love to her as a swan (some accounts call it rape). Helen was born from an egg (?!?!?!?!?) since Zeus was a swan when he impregnated Leda. _____________________________________________________________________________________ There is a secondary account which says that says it was the goddess Nemisis who mated with Zeus and it was she who produced the egg. This egg was given to Leda by a shepherd. Leda took great care of the egg by storing it in a chest until it hatched. She then adopted Helen as her daughter. _____________________________________________________________________________________
