Fractasque ad lito ra voces : Aen. 3.556

Abstract

The view that fractasque ad litora voces at Aen.3.556 alludes to the absence of the Homeric Sirens - at a point in the narrative where the reader expects to find them (D. Nelis) -, is further sustained with an etymological approach to the Sirens' name. In the relevant Homeric passages their name is repeatedly connected with the idea of binding. The Vergilian fractas is significantly opposite to this idea and thus implies the Sirens' absence from this part of the narrative.