in fabulous history, a daughter of Thespius and Eurystheus, who married Tyndarus, king of Sparta. She was seen by Jupiter bathing in the river Eurotas when she was some few days advanced in her pregnancy, and the god, struck with her beauty, resolved to deceive her. He persuaded Venus to change herself into an eagle, whilst he assumed the form of a swan; and after this metamorphosis, Jupiter, as if fearful of the tyrannical cruelty of the bird of prey, fled through the air into the arms of Leda, who willingly sheltered the trembling swan from the assaults of his superior enemy. The caresses with which the naked Leda received the swan enabled Jupiter to avail himself of his situation, and nine months after this adventure the wife of Tyndarus brought forth two eggs, from one of which sprung Pollux and Helen, and from the other Castor and Clytemnestra. The two former were deemed the offspring of Jupiter, and the latter were claimed by Tyndarus. Some mythologists attribute this amour to Nemesis, and not to Leda; and they further mention, that Leda was intrusted with the education of the children which sprung from the eggs brought forth by Nemesis. To reconcile this diversity of opinions, others maintain that Leda received the name of Nemesis after her death. Homer and Hesiod make no mention of the metamorphosis of Jupiter into a swan, and hence some have imagined that the fable was unknown to these ancient poets, and probably invented since their age.