Talk:Castor and Pollux

Further reading : Link to Hengist & Horsa ?
I came here to this article by the article on Hengist & Horsa ... ... Therefore I suggest a link towards them. Alrik Fassbauer (talk) 20:23, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Dispute of Disputes
It is commented that it has never been a consensus on whom of the twins is of divine origin; and that this dispute is read as the archdispute. Both this story and the story of Helen (of Troy) mirrors eachother as myths regarding the origins or reasons of war i.e. superiority vs inferiority. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xact (talk • contribs) 11:24, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Comments
There's a spelling variation of Polydeuces - Polydukus. Found in http://faculty.saintleo.edu/reynolds/HON150-F03/Syllabus/Notes/epic.htm Should we add a redirect for Polydukus?

Yes. I would also recommend you amend the intro paragraph. Polydeuces is Greek; Pollux is Latin. The two are not interechangeable in the same language.

Pop Culture References
As most other mythology or famous names do, they have a section devoted to pop culture references.

If anyone thinks it proper, I think an addition refering to the movie Face/Off as the main characters were aptly named Castor and Pollux.

Any thoughts?

Kastoria
Any thoughts on adding some info on the Greek city of Kastoria, which is named after Kastor. It is known for its beaver fur.

Isn't cite.php the same
method discussed in Footnotes and Citation templates (e.g. the Citation template for cite web in the latter? I'm referring to the commented section towards the end.) Schissel | Sound the Note! 17:22, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Parallel with Ashwini Kumaras
The article refers to the comparison with the horsemen brothers Ashwini Kumaras of the Vedas. While the similarities are considerable, there is a problem with the parallel. There is a nakshatra (constellation) named after the Ashwini Kumaras, called Ashvini, which is actually the stars Mesarthim and Sheratan of Aries. There is no astronomical manifestation of the parallel (Castor and Pollux are in Gemini, quite far away).

I propose that this fact be mentioned in the article lest someone makes the mistake of thinking Castor and Pollux stars are the Ashvini nakshatra (I did). --Ankurtg (talk) 20:51, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Rapists?
Did they rape the Leucippides or just carry them off to be betrothed? And if they did, why was that venerated as divine? Is that a reflection of the base values of a patriarchal society or what? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.29.79.250 (talk) 08:50, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

If it was rape, this would not stop Castor and Pollux being perceived as divine. For instance, [{Zeus]], the chief god of the Greek pantheon, raped Antiope (mother of Amphion), though for some unclear reason, the Antiope article seems to prefer the expression 'took her by force'. And I very much doubt if this is the only instance of such divine rape. This may well reflect the values of a patriarchal society. But it may also reflect the values of a priest-ridden society in which the gods are seen as entitled to do what they like with us mere mortals. But I should admit that it's easier for me to say that about the Greek priesthood because it's no longer around to defend itself. You could make (and at least one feminist writer has made) a similar accusation of rape against the Holy Spirit in the Gospels, because he makes the Virgin Mary pregnant with Jesus without asking her permission. But, if they got to hear of the charge, I would expect the Christian priesthood to reply something along the lines that the Holy Spirit, being all-knowing, knew that she would consent when told about her pregnancy by the Angel Gabriel (if I remember right, she replies 'I am the servant of the Lord'). So quite likely the priesthood of Zeus would come up with some similar excuse if it was still around to defend itself. Tlhslobus (talk) 00:49, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

lede
I'm rewriting the lede somewhat. It's a bit convoluted to read, doesn't adequately reflect the major points of the article (and still doesn't), and repeats information. It was also stated that the Dioscuri are the half-brothers of Timandra, Phoebe, Hercules, and Philonoe. This is nowhere discussed in the article, and so I deleted it. If it needs to be here, it's evidently a minor point that shouldn't be in the lede. Zeus had countless children, and so any of his offspring have numerous "half-siblings." This symbolic kinship is rarely important in mythology. Cynwolfe (talk) 15:50, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Submarine Insignia
The US Navy's Submarine Warfare Insignia has two dolphins on it that are named Castor and Pollux. Not sure if that is worth mentioning... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.199.246.66 (talk) 19:42, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Dessa
The rapper Dessa has been quoted as saying that Pollux had metal hands and was a fighter. I can find no corroboration of this idea. However, I would ask whether Roy Thomas was aware of this fact, if true, when creating Iron Fist (comics)?(mercurywoodrose)75.61.135.151 (talk) 03:23, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

(I have never participated in editing talk on Wikipedia before so I hope I'm not doing this improperly, but...) I had a number of books on Greek mythology growing up, and one of my favourites was an account of Jason and the Argonauts. (I have never been able to determine which author or version -- or any original sources -- since I no longer have the book.) In this account, Castor and Pollux were throwing a heavy discus on a beach and through some mishap one twin's hands were severed at the wrist by the heavy, sharp disc. Again, I can't offer any substantiation and I have researched briefly online with no satisfactory results, but this was from a fairly serious account of Greek mythology for modern readers and it was in print by the early 1990s, so I am certain it pre-dates the work of the rapper you mentioned and might have informed his ideas.

Much sweet wine
With all due respect to the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth, can we really consider it a reliable source for the meaning Polydeukes? Does anyone have a good source (i.e. a scholarly work by a classicist or historical linguist) for the introduction of wine into a name that LSJ rightly glosses as "very sweet"? davidiad.: 18:43, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

'Holy' Bible versus neutral point of view?
The 'In Culture' section says the 'the Holy Bible' mentions the twins; I would have expected to see 'the Bible' without the word 'Holy', whose inclusion seems to me to violate Wikipedia's rules on Neutral Point Of View (NPOV). But as an unbeliever myself, I don't want to risk gratuitously offending believers by imposing such a correction on them. Perhaps some editors who are themselves believers could have a think about the matter, and decide themselves whether or not a correction is required.Tlhslobus (talk) 22:50, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Did Paris 'kidnap' Helen?
The section 'The Leucippides, Lynceus and death' tells us that Paris 'kidnapped' Helen. For all I know, this may well accurately reflect the views of its referenced source. But it seems misleading at best, and arguably incorrect, given that the Helen of Troy article says that various Greek sources contradict each other on this question, with Herodotus saying Helen was abducted, but Sappho claiming she left voluntarily because she had fallen in love with Paris, and the Cypria, which, as a kind of 'prequel' to Homer's Iliad, is arguably as near as we can get to a 'quasi-authoritative' account, making no mention of an abduction, but simply stating that Aphrodite brought them together, thus seemingly agreeing with Sappho, given that Aphrodite is the goddess of love. Tlhslobus (talk) 00:10, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Stratikis, Potis (1987), Greek Mythology B, pp. 20–23.
This is cited for the entire Leucippides section, but it seems to be a children's book. See the Greek Wikipedia entry on the author: http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CF%8C%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%A3%CF%84%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AF%CE%BA%CE%B7%CF%82. The section needs a rewrite, especially as Theocritus 22 gives a version of the story where Castor kills Lynceus, instead of the other way around. --Quadalpha (talk) 01:38, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Sisters
Twin sisters are mentioned. What are their names? &#9798; CUSH &#9798; 10:01, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

Removal of "In popular culture" section
If no one objects to it within the next twelve hours or so, I will be deleting the "In popular culture" section for this article. My reasons for doing this are as follows:
 * 1) There is not a single citation anywhere in the entire section.
 * 2) Almost all of the information in the section is completely trivial and irrelevant to the main subject of the article.
 * 3) The section continues to grow, which is not good because it is already bloated enough as it is.--Katolophyromai (talk) 19:02, 23 April 2017 (UTC)


 * The section may not be sourced, but is its contents inaccurate? And of course the section is completely trivial. It is about pop culture. &#9798; CUSH &#9798; 20:16, 23 April 2017 (UTC)
 * As far as I am aware, the contents of the section are not inaccurate, but I am not exactly an expert on popular culture, so I cannot be sure. If you think the section should be kept, I will not delete it, but I do think it should certainly be at least trimmed down to only include information that is truly notable. Furthermore, all information in the section must be cited, so any statements that we keep must have at least one citation to support them. --Katolophyromai (talk) 20:30, 23 April 2017 (UTC)