And ships, whose flight is swift along the wave
When wintry tempests o'er the savage sea
Are raging, and the sailors tremblingly
Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow,
Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow.
And sacrifice with snow-white lambs, the wind
And the huge billow bursting close behind,
Even then beneath the weltering waters bear
The staggering ship—they suddenly appear,
On yellow wings rushing athwart the sky,
And lull the blasts in mute tranquillity,
And strew the waves on the white ocean's bed,
Fair omen of the voyage; from toil and dread
The sailors rest, rejoicing in the sight,
And plough the quiet sea in safe delight.
Shelley's translation.
The appearance of the Twins, Castor and Pollux, was hailed as the harbinger of fair summer weather, and they were symbolised by the figure of two stars over a ship.
In the Acts of the Apostles we read that St. Paul sailed from Malta to Syracuse in an Alexandrian ship whose sign was Castor and Pollux, and among the Romans it was very common to place the effigies of the Twins in the prows of vessels.
Castor and Pollux became enamoured of the betrothed daughters of Leucippus, brother of Tyndarus, and resolved to supplant their rivals. A battle ensued, in which Castor killed Lynceus, and was himself killed by Idas. Pollux thereupon killed Idas, but being himself immortal, and most tenderly attached to his brother, he was unwilling to survive him. He therefore besought Jupiter to restore Castor to life. Jupiter granted his request, and made Castor immortal. Consequently as long as one was upon earth, so long was the other detained in the infernal regions, and they thus alternately lived and died every day. As Homer puts it:
And live alternate and alternate die.
