Prayer to Apollo
ApolloFather Apollo, I pray to You, all-seeing guardian God, be gracious to me and protect me, watching over my kingdom. Be ever vigilant and warn me what strangers or what subjects of mine conspire against me. Whatever treacherous plots there may be, keep me alert and prepared.
Aeetes, king of Colchis, addresses the Sun — his father.
What he asks for is neither victory nor protection but intelligence. "Scatter your lights now over the lands, over the whole sea … whether our own hand contrives hidden plots or a foreign one, be the first to bring me word." The all-seeing god is being recruited as an informer.
This is a tyrant's prayer, and his whole character fits into the word order: "whether our own hand … or a foreign one". He suspects his own people first. Valerius Flaccus offers no comment — it is enough to let Aeetes choose for himself where the list begins.
Fons · Source
AuthorValerius Flaccus
WorkArgonautica
Section5.244-249
Period1st c. AD
Classificatio · Taxonomy