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Leda - after Michelangelo Buonarroti

Tyndareus' wife Leda, being seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan

Tyndareus was twice King of Sparta. He was the son of Oebalus and brother of Icarius and Hippocoon, all of whom were also kings. He was married to Leda, daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius. He was the father of Clytaemnestra,Castor , Timandra, Phoebe, and Phylonoe and foster-father of Helen and Pollux, whose father was Zeus.

First Reign[]

Tyndareus' first reign was very short as he was deposed by Hippocoon and his sons. He fled with Icarius into exile. However, he was reinstated as king by Heracles.

Second Reign[]

Tyndareus' second reign was shared by Icarius, who reigned as co-king. He accepted Zeus' children by Leda as his own and married his eldest daughter, Clytaemnestra, to Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, who was recently exiled from Mycenae by his uncle Thyestes, who usurped the crown. He deliviered military aid to Agamemnon to help take back the kingdom.

His youngest daughter was abducted by Theseus and later married to Menelaus, who succeeded him in Sparta, thus ensuring the dominance of the Atreids in the Peloponessus. He held a contest to decide Helen's groom, with several eligible princes and kings arriving as suitors in his palace. However, he was worried war would break out among the unsuccessful suitors after he announced the winner. He consulted Odysseus, who suggested an oath which made them swear to unite to defend Helen's husband should she be taken away from him. He, in return, negotiated with Icarius for his daughter,  Penelope's hand in marriage to Odysseus. He died shortly before the Trojan War broke out, succeeded by Menelaus.

Family[]

Lelegid/Lacadaemonid Genealogy in Greek mythology
 
 
Poseidôn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lelex
 
Cleocharia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Myles
 
Euhippe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Clete
 
Eurotas
 
 
Zeús
 
 
 
Taygete
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lapithes of the Lapiths
 
Orsinome
 
 
 
 
 
Sparta
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lacedaemon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acrisius of Argos
 
Eurydice
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amyclas
 
Diomede
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Zeús
 
Danaë
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Philomela
 
Cynortas
 
 
 
Argalus
 
 
 
 
 
 
Perseus
 
Andromeda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gorgophone
 
Oebalus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hippomenes
 
Tyndareus
 
 
 
Leda
 
 
 
Zeús
 
Polycaste
 
Icarius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Castor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Polydeuces
 
 
Penelope
 
Odysseus of Ithaca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agamemnon of Mycenae
 
Clytaemnestra
 
 
 
 
 
Helen
 
Menelaus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Telemachus
Preceded by:
Oebalus
King of Sparta

(First Rule)
Mythic

Succeeded by
Hippocoon


Preceded by:
Hippocoon
Co-King of Sparta

(with Icarius) (Second Rule)
Mythic

Succeeded by
Menelaus
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