Beginning of Essay
Given the odd tales brought to us by Greek mythology, one could very well imagine the stories having been unearthed from some antique tabloid magazine. In the case of Leda, subject of W. B. Yeats' poem "Leda and the Swan," the banner headline may have run as fol ....

Middle of Essay
.... the same night that her husband had. Zeus's children, Polydeuces and Helen, were born from an egg laid by Leda and Tyndareus' children were Castor and Clytemnestra. However, some say that Helen was a daughter of Nemesis and Zeus and brought (in egg form) to Leda by a shepherd. When the egg hatched, Leda brought her up. Legends also say that Leda died of shame for her daughter Helen. As an aside, Castor and Polydeuces were also known as Castor and Pollux, the twins of Gemini. The first quatrain of Yeats' work describes the initial encounter between woman and bird. The swan, normally a symbol of beauty, is here depicted as brutish, holding Leda's ....