Читать книгу Astrology For Dummies - Rae Orion - Страница 92

Sumerians looked at the stars of Gemini and saw a pile of bricks. Egyptians pictured a couple of sprouting plants. But most ancient peoples saw twins. In classical mythology, their story starts with Leda, who was approached on her wedding day by Zeus in the shape of a swan. Soon she gave birth to — or, to use the technical term, hatched — four children from two eggs. Helen and Pollux were fathered by Zeus, the king of the gods, and were therefore immortal. Castor and Clytemnestra were the children of Leda’s husband, the human king of Sparta, and were therefore mortals, doomed to die. Despite that difference, Castor and Pollux enjoyed innumerable adventures together. But one day, Castor was pierced by a spear. Distraught, Pollux begged Zeus to let his brother live. Zeus complied, allowing the two brothers to share the immortality that by rights belonged only to one of them. The catch was that they had to divide their time between Olympus, the home of the gods, and the underworld. Thus the twins shuttle between two homes, a situation many Geminis might consider ideal.