# Palinurus — The Aeneid character guide

> Palinurus in The Aeneid by Virgil.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** wakeful Palinurus

**First appearance:** 0004-book-v

## Who they are

Aeneas's helmsman who falls overboard.

## In the story

### [Book III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se/chapters/book-iii)

The watchful pilot who navigates the fleet through storms and dangers.

### [Book V: Funeral Games and the Burning of the Ships](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se/chapters/book-v)

The pilot of Aeneas's ship, who resists the god of Sleep but is ultimately overcome and lost at sea.

### [Book VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se/chapters/book-vi)

Aeneas's helmsman, whose unburied shade is encountered in the underworld.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se/characters/palinuirus
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_aeneid_se/characters