In lines 2220 through 2260, Palamon prayed to Venus by pouring his heart out...and by sucking up to her a little bit. In one portion of his prayer he says, "Fairest of the fair...O my lady Venus/ You who bring joy to mount Cytherea,". This is how he started out his prayer, and it seems to me that he is trying to get on Venus' good side before asking for what he really wants. Palamon asks for Venus' help so that he can win the fight against Arcita. I think that this request is kind of ironic because Palamon made himself seem so confident and brave when he said he was willing to fight for his love. Also, they talked about fortune several times in this story and how "fortune decides your fate". However, it seems in this part of the story that Palamon doesn't really believe in fortune deciding your fate because he is asking for help from Venus. Not only is he asking her, he is begging her. It is kind of ironic how the story was telling how fortune would decide who the winner would be, but Palamon was relying on someone else to help him instead of relying on fate. Also, Palamon goes on to ask Venus to help him die if she can't help him win the battle. Perhaps Arcita would have won if Palamon didn't try to go and change his fate. This makes me think, does the other really believe in fortune and fate, or is he sort of making fun of it?
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