Palinurus the great navigator and helmsman is betrayed and thrown overboard by the God of Sleep. The Gods have decreed that his life is the price of his companions’ safe onward journey: he will become the archetype, down the ages, of the poor mariner lost at sea. Hear the extract here.
Illustration: Wikipedia Loves Art participant “Opal_Art_Seekers_4“, WLA taft Plate with Palinurus Overboard, CC BY 2.0
