The Dioscuri
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Acts 28:11), otherwise Castor and Pollux — so, in pagan mythology, were called the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. They were regarded as deities who protected sailors, supposedly having received from Neptune special power over wind and waves, and were thought to give particular aid during sea storms and shipwrecks. For this reason their images were often carved or painted on the bows of ships. The Alexandrian ship on which St. Paul the Apostle sailed from the island of Malta to Italy undoubtedly bore such an image, and accordingly took its name from them: the Dioscuri.