In Greek mythology, Zeus, the king of the gods, often used his power and strength to take advantage of women for the pleasures of sexual intercourse.  He used many different shapes to hide his identity and to fool the women into believing he was someone they loved or were incredibly attracted to; sometimes he even took the shape of an animal (a swan in the case with Leda).  However, he was not only hiding his identity from the women he was with, he was also trying to hide from Hera, his wife, the queen of the gods, so that she would not catch him in the act of infidelity.

For more information on Zeus and his origin, click here

To see a brief list of Zeus's offspring from all of the women he had sexual interactions with, click here.

To see a much more detailed list with more in depth descriptions, click here. The story of Leda is 4th on the list.