Dioscuri
Dioscuri EuropeThe sons of Zeus, Castor and Polydeuces, to the Romans Pollux. They are called by Homer the brothers of Helen, whom they rescued from Attica after Theseus had carried her there. They were Argonauts; on the expedition Polydeuces slew with his bare hands Amycus, king of the savage Bebryces, a people of Bithynia. Their final exploit, an attempted abduction, ended in the death of Castor, although legend insists that both of Zeus' sons obtained immortality. The cult of the Dioscuri was very important amongst the Spartans, since they associated their worship with a tradition of dual kingship. In Rome, too, Castor and Pollux were reverenced from the fifth century BC onwards. It was said that they had personally aided the Romans on the battlefield.
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