This week the planet Venus is at its most brilliant this week among the stars of the constellation Gemini, the twins, which is the prefect set up for the Ancient Greek myth of Leda and the Swan.

When we look toward the western horizon about 45 minutes after sunset this week, we can imagine the planet Venus as the Greek princess Leda, a human being. The story is that Leda was married, but there were two males that fathered her children: one mortal; the other immortal immortal. As a result, Leda had twins, but one twin was merely human, while the other, sired by Zeus, was immortal.
 
In the myth, Zeus saw Leda bathing by the river and transformed himself into a swan. In this form he seduced Leda, which resulted in the birth of Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini. Pollux was the the the twin of Castor, the lesser twin, who was sired by Leda's human husband.
 
Now because Castor was a regular human being, the myth held that he died a human death, whereas Pollux lived forever. But the two were so close, and Pollox loved his brother Castor so well, that Zeus granted Pollux permission to follow Castor into the underworld and bring him back to life. 
 
In this season we see Castor and Pollux set below the horizon in the west, with Pollux following Castor over the horizon into the underworld, so he can bring his brother back to life.
 
Early 20th century poet William Butler Yeats wrote a magnificent poem about the drama of Leda's visitation by Zeus that captures the brilliant light of Venus from the region of the Gemini twins. Look for it on the Internment Public Radio website, and recite it to the stars!
 
 
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172064

Leda and the Swan

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATSA sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
                                  Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?