[nod, nod!] That's right, the story came from Greece to begin with. It's the reason that the Gemini star sign is called the Twins, too.
The story goes that Zeus, king of the gods, came to earth in the form of a swan and wooed a Spartan queen. [...little sheepish laugh] I know it's weird, but bear with me.
The queen became pregnant with twin boys, but only one of them had Zeus as a father, the other was the son of the queen's husband. When they were born, they were called Castor and Pollux. Pollux was the immortal son, while Castor was as human as they come.
They grew up to be great horsemen and had many adventures together, but during one of them, Castor was fatally wounded by an enemy. Pollux was saved by his immortality, but he begged Zeus to save his brother too. Zeus offered him the choice to give up half of his immortality to his brother, which would mean he could never go and live in the city of the gods, and Pollux said yes. Castor lived, and Pollux wasn't fully immortal any more.
When they both died, in the end, Zeus put them in the sky as stars with the other heroes. [pointing again at the stars, one-castor-two-pollux] They became the constellation Gemini, The Twins.
Or at least, that's how the story goes. [:'D shrug]
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The story goes that Zeus, king of the gods, came to earth in the form of a swan and wooed a Spartan queen. [...little sheepish laugh] I know it's weird, but bear with me.
The queen became pregnant with twin boys, but only one of them had Zeus as a father, the other was the son of the queen's husband. When they were born, they were called Castor and Pollux. Pollux was the immortal son, while Castor was as human as they come.
They grew up to be great horsemen and had many adventures together, but during one of them, Castor was fatally wounded by an enemy. Pollux was saved by his immortality, but he begged Zeus to save his brother too. Zeus offered him the choice to give up half of his immortality to his brother, which would mean he could never go and live in the city of the gods, and Pollux said yes. Castor lived, and Pollux wasn't fully immortal any more.
When they both died, in the end, Zeus put them in the sky as stars with the other heroes. [pointing again at the stars, one-castor-two-pollux] They became the constellation Gemini, The Twins.
Or at least, that's how the story goes. [:'D shrug]