A brief history of Leda and her bestiality: Zeus loved having all kinds of extramarital sex, and to escape Hera's watchful eyes (and her crony Argus' hundred watchful eyes), he would often sneak out disguised as an animal. In Leda's case, he came to her as a swan and either a) raped her or b) seduced her, depending on your source. The union was pretty productive: Helen and her thousand-ship-launching face was one of the results, as was Pollux. However, Pollux's twin--well, half-twin--Castor was the son not of Zeus but of Leda's husband, Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, who also fathered future murderess Clytemnestra. Hopefully everything was indeed consensual, because Leda clearly had a really busy evening (in true Greek style, they were all conceived on the same day and born/hatched on the same day nine months later).
I pulled this picture from SAM's Permanent Collection site (here are all their John Covert paintings). Covert painted his "Leda" sometime between 1915 and 1923, and even for that period, the style is stark, especially compared to his other works. The barrenness lets the pertinent details speak for themselves--her hair and her hand. Or, rather, her "hair" and her "hand."Ha! See what Covert did, that clever bastard? It's a funny little trick at first, but the more you think about it, the more bittersweet the pun becomes. The swan has his wing stretched around her like a sleazebag trying to make a move, and Leda's eyes are downcast...does that mean she's being coy, or is she afraid?
When I go to SAM, I end up spending the most time in front of "Leda." Even after all these years and my many minutes staring at it, I haven't made up my mind if it is funny or sad. In my opinion, that's a pretty perfect joke.
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