Castor and Polydeuces
These twin sons of Leda, Castor and Polydeuces, had different fathers. Castor, who became famous as a horse tamer and soldier, was sired by King Tyndareus of Sparta, while Polydeuces, who became an invincible boxer, was fathered by Zeus. These Spartan heroes were inseparable, undertaking many heroic missions together. They went on the Calydonian boar hunt; they shipped with Jason on the Argo; they rescued their sister Helen from Theseus. On their last expedition Castor was killed by a cattle breeder named Idas in a fight over some oxen. Polydeuces took revenge and then prayed to Zeus that he might die and share his own immortality with Castor. Zeus granted the request. The brothers were to spend one day in Hades, the next on Olympus, and so on. They were venerated as the protectors of sailors.
The Danaïds
King Danaüs of Egypt had fifty daughters. His brother Aegyptus had fifty sons who wanted to marry their cousins, but the girls and their father were utterly opposed to it. They fled to Argos and took sanctuary, but despite the aid of the people of Argos the sons of Aegyptus prevailed. Danaus presided over the wedding rites but secretly gave each of his daughters a dagger. That night the Danaïds slew the bridegrooms. Only one did not: Hypermnestra refused to stab Lynceus, for which her father threw her in prison. Hypermnestra's sisters, however, had a worse fate and were sentenced to carry water in leaky jars for all eternity in Hades.
