Difference between revisions of "Dioscuri"

<p> (&nbsp;Acts 28:11, Revised Version margin; Authorized Version‘ <b> [[Castor]] and [[Pollux]] </b> ,’ Revised Version‘the <b> Twin Brothers </b> ’) </p> <p> The [[Dioscuri]] were the sons of [[Leda]] and Zeus, Castor being mortal and Pollux immortal. They were famed for many exploits, and at length, in a battle against the sons of Aphareus, Castor was slain by Idas. Pollux besought [[Zeus]] that he too might die. According to one fable the Father of the Gods granted Castor life on condition that the brothers should alternately spend a day in Hades, but another states that their love was rewarded by Zeus, who placed them together among the stars as the Gemini. They were regarded as the patrons of athletic contests, Castor presiding over the equestrian events, Pollux being the god of boxing (Κάστορά δʼ ἱππόδαμον καὶ πὺξ ἀγαθὸν Πολυδεύκεα [Hom. <i> Il </i> . iii. 237]). Their worship was very strictly observed among the Dorian peoples, and they were also held in special reverence at Rome, as they were popularly supposed to have fought on the side of the Common wealth at the battle of Lake Regillus and to have carried the news of victory to the city (Dion. Hal. <i> Ant. Rom </i> . vi. 13), It is worthy of note that they were specially held in honour in the district of Cyrenaica near [[Alexandria]] ( <i> schol </i> . Pindar, <i> Pyth </i> . v. 6). </p> <p> The ships of the ancients carried two figures as a rule, one being the figure-head (παράσημον, <i> insigne </i> ), after which the ship was named (Virgil, <i> aen </i> . v. 116, x. 166, 188, 209), and the other in the stern. The latter was the <i> tutela </i> or image of the divine being under whose guardianship the vessel was supposed to sail. The Dioscuri were regarded as the guardian deities of sailors, and Horace speaks of ‘the brothers of Helen, the beaming stars,’ as shining propitiously on those at sea ( <i> Odes </i> , i. iii. 2, xii 25; cf. Catullus, iv. 27; Euripides, <i> Helena </i> , 1662-5). </p> <p> F. W. Worsley. </p>

<p> <strong> DIOSCURI </strong> (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), or <strong> The Twin Brothers </strong> (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), or <strong> Castor and Pollux </strong> (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ). The sign or figurehead of the [[Alexandrian]] ship in which St. Paul sailed from [[Malta]] (&nbsp; Acts 28:11 ), perhaps one of those employed to bring corn to Rome. The Twins ( <em> [[Gemini]] </em> ) were the protectors of sailors; in mythology they were sons of Zeus and Leda, and were placed in the sky as a constellation for their brotherly love. </p> <p> A. J. Maclean. </p>

<p> (Διόσκουροι . i.e., Jove's boys, "Castor and Pollux," &nbsp;Acts 28:11), the twin sons of [[Jupiter]] by Leda (Homer, ''Hymn,'' 17; Hygin. ''Fab'' . 77; according to Homer, ''Odyss'' . 11:297, the sons of Leda and Tyndareus). They were chiefly invoked by the Greek and Roman sailors as tutelary deities of mariners, and also worshipped by propitiatory offerings (Theocritus, Id. 22:17; Catull. lxviii. 65; Lucian, Deor. dial. 26:2). In the heavens they were twin stars, regarded as auspicious (comp. σωτῆρες, Homer, [[Hymn]] , 33:6; Elian, ''Var. Inst'' . 1:30; "lucidum sidus," Diodor. Sic. 4:43; Ovid, Fasti, 5:720). They were sometimes thought to appear in a delivering flame at the masthead during storms (Plutarch, Placit. Philos. 2:18). Their image formed the "figure-head" of the Alexandrian vessel (giving name to it) in which Paul sailed from [[Melita]] to Rome (&nbsp;Acts 18:11). Compare (See [[Ship]]). See Scheffer, ''De Nilit. Navali Vett'' . page 372 sq.; Ensched, De tutelis et insignib. ''Nav'' . (L. B. 1771); Hasmeus, De navib. ''Alexand. Apostolum In Ital. Deferentibus'' (Brem. 1716); Kunz, ''De Vexillo Navis Alex'' . (Jen. 1734). Comp. (See Castor (And Pollux).) </p>