Roman Oil Lamp Karak, Jordan

A small museum displays various objects found in the vicinity, including this bronze Roman oil lamp. Usually described as a duck, the shape of the beak and length of the neck seem more like a swan. Two small children, one on either side, are folded within the bird's wing. Of each child, only the head and one arm are visible.

The form and iconography of this piece suggest a mythological subject: either (1) Polydeuces (Pollux, in Latin) and Helen, whose father, Zeus, took the form of a swan to impregnate their mother Leda, or (2) Castor and Pollux, both sons of Leda, Castor by Tyndareus and Pollux by Zeus.