Leda and the swan

Cultural  

1. The subject of a story from classical mythology about the rape of Leda, a queen of Sparta, by Zeus, who had taken the form of a swan. Helen of Troy was conceived in the rape of Leda.

---

Discover More

W. B. Yeats wrote a famous poem entitled “Leda and the Swan.”

Example Sentences

Designer Fausto Puglisi looked to a 1994 print drawn by the brand's founder Roberto Cavalli, itself inspired by a rococo depiction of the Greek myth of Leda and the swan, for the "Wild Leda" line, on show at London's Selfridges department store.

From Reuters

So Twombly’s “Orpheus” is connected with his many works addressing “Leda and the Swan,” including a superb 1962 canvas that contains a frenzy of marks in pencils, wax crayons and oil paint.

From Washington Post

On his hat is a gold badge depicting the myth of Leda and the Swan, and in his right hand is a vibrant red carnation: a mark of fidelity, maybe, or an evocation of Mary’s tears on the Via Dolorosa.

From New York Times

What that means for prints of any version of Leda and the Swan is up to eBay.

From The Verge

But rewatching the series now, I see references to Sondheim in a rhyming episode about a crazy barber; to the Greek myth Leda and the Swan in an episode about an amorous goose god; and to Herman Melville in an episode about a quest to find a “sand whale.”

From New York Times