Ring of the Dioskouroi

The twin half-brothers Castor and Pollux were once Argonauts and shared the voyage with their cousins Lynceus and Idas of Messenia, who were also twins. They parted as friends but later had a falling out when the Dioskouroi abducted the maidens that the Messenians were meant to marry. Enraged, the two men tracked them and descended upon their camp at night. While Lynceus fell in battle, Idas managed to kill Castor and was about to do the same to Pollux when Zeus, his divine father, struck him down with a bolt of lightning. Pollux wept as he ascended to Olympus and not even the sacred ambrosia could assuage his sorrow, so Zeus said “My son, I see your pain is deep, for you love your brother dearly and without him, eternal life would be a torture to you. I grant you this boon, that you may share your immortality with him and both would henceforth share the fate of gods and men.” Rejoiced, Pollux readily accepted, and the two brothers reunited, ever alternating between Hades and Olympus until the world is changed.