III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Loss

  Glaucus's unrequited love for Scylla and his subsequent seduction by Circe highlight the pain and loss inherent in love.

• Mythology and Classical Reference

  The chapter is steeped in classical myth, featuring Glaucus, Scylla, Circe, Neptune, Apollo, and Amphion.

• Mortality and the Sublime

  Glaucus's transformation and centuries-long existence blur the line between life and death, while the crystal edifice houses lovers in a deathlike sleep.

• Dreams and Escape

  Glaucus's initial freedom in the ocean and his trance-like state in Circe's bower represent escapist dreams that turn into nightmares.

Characters to notice

• Glaucus

  Narrates his transformation, love for Scylla, seduction by Circe, and centuries-long imprisonment; guides Endymion to the crystal edifice.

• Endymion

  The Latmian youth who meets Glaucus and is revealed as the prophesied one to complete the ritual and free the lovers.

• Scylla

  Beloved of Glaucus who fled his advances; later entombed in the crystal edifice among the lovers.

• Circe

  Cruel enchantress who seduced Glaucus and transformed his crew into beasts; referred to as 'hell-born Circe'.

• The Carian

  The aged sage who guides Glaucus and Endymion; reveals the prophecy and assists in the ritual.

• Apollo

  Invoked by the Carian ('sacred Phœbus') and referenced in Glaucus's description of evening skies.

• Neptune

  Mentioned as the sea-god whose voice Glaucus loved to hear and whose kingdom he desired.

• Amphion

  Referenced in Glaucus's account of being so entranced by Circe that even Amphion's harp could not lure him back.

Key passages

• “plunged for life or death. To interknit One’s senses with so dense a breathing stuff Might seem a work of pain; so not enough Can I admire how crystal-smooth it felt, And buoyant round my limbs.”

  He dove in, risking everything, and was amazed at how the water felt smooth and buoyant around his body.

  Glaucus describes his initial transformation into a sea creature.

• “I loved her to the very white of truth, And she would not conceive it.”

  I loved Scylla with absolute sincerity, but she could not understand or accept my love.

  Glaucus expresses his unrequited love for Scylla.

• “She did so breathe ambrosia; so immerse My fine existence in a golden clime. She took me like a child of suckling time, And cradled me in roses.”

  Circe surrounded me with such divine sweetness and luxury that I felt like an infant being cradled in comfort.

  Glaucus describes Circe's seductive and overwhelming influence.

• “How specious heaven was changed to real hell.”

  What seemed like paradise turned into actual torment.

  Glaucus summarizes his fall from Circe's favor into misery.

• “One thousand years!—Is it then possible To look so plainly through them? to dispel A thousand years with backward glance sublime?”

  Can one truly see clearly across a thousand years and dismiss them with a single, magnificent backward look?

  Glaucus marvels at the passage of a millennium and his newfound clarity.

• “He shall not die. Moreover, and in chief, He must pursue this task of joy and grief Most piously;—all lovers tempest-tost, And in the savage overtchelming lost, He shall deposit side by side, until Time’s creeping shall the dreary space fulfil”

  He will not die, and above all, he must faithfully gather all lovers who have been lost in storms and place them together until the appointed time is complete.

  The Carian reads the prophecy about Glaucus's task to collect and preserve lovers.