Palinuro and his Fatidic Fate in Cervantes’ Don Quixote

Abstract

The sixth interpolated tale in the first part of Don Quijote begins with a song by Don Luis, who disguised as a muleteer, follows his beloved. In the song, Don Luis portrays himself as a mariner of love and as a new Palinurus. This is a reference to the pilot in Virgil’s Aeneid. After delineating the importance of this classical figure in the Spanish Golden Age, this essay analyzes the tragic shadow that Palinurus projects into this tale. The fatidic contemplation of his star may well lead Luis to a disastrous end. Since Palinurus, in the Aeneid dies as a sacrifice to Neptune, one must consider that the future voyage of Clara and her father to America could be a dangerous one. The same can be said of Luis’ travels to Andalucía, since he is accompanied by Don Fernando, known for his treachery.