LEDA • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Leda

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/lˈidə/ Listen

Leda

noun

(Greek mythology) a queen of Sparta who was raped by Zeus who had taken the form of a swan; Helen of Troy was conceived in the rape of Leda.

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Etymology of 'Leda'

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"Leda" Quotes from Famous Books

... (marked thus, [symbol for GEMINI])—A zodiacal constellation, visible in May, containing the two bright stars Castor and Pollux, the fabled sons of Leda and Jupiter, who during their lives had cleared the Hellespont and neighboring seas of pirates, and were therefore deemed the protectors of ...

— The Ruins • C. F. [Constantin Francois de] Volney

... inferiority and often a sign of idiotic tendency, usually accompanied by a case history, tainted heredity and highly neurotic constitution. AEstheticism has reason for complaint, and more than one painter or sculptor has represented the union of Leda with the Swan. It is certainly much better for society, for an idiot or an imbecile to be castrated than for him to make a girl pregnant and breed ...

— The Sexual Question - A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study • August Forel

... must trace, Moulded with soft but manly grace; Fair as the neck of Paphia's boy, Where Paphia's arms have hung in joy. Give him the winged Hermes' hand, With which he waves his snaky wand; Let Bacchus the broad chest supply, And Leda's son the sinewy thigh; While, through his whole transparent frame, Thou show'st the stirrings of that flame, Which kindles, when the first love-sigh Steals from the ...

— The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore • Thomas Moore et al

Words linked to "Leda" : Greek mythology, mythical being