[Dionysus sailing in his sacred ship. (Interior Design on a Kylix by
Exekias in Munich.): lang213.jpg]
Concerning Dionysus the son of renowned Semele shall I sing; how once he
appeared upon the shore of the sea unharvested, on a jutting headland, in
form like a man in the bloom of youth, with his beautiful dark hair
waving around him, and on his strong shoulders a purple robe. Anon came
in sight certain men that were pirates; in a well-wrought ship sailing
swiftly on the dark seas: Tyrsenians were they, and Ill Fate was their
leader, for they beholding him nodded each to other, and swiftly leaped
forth, and hastily seized him, and set him aboard their ship rejoicing in
heart, for they deemed that he was the son of kings, the fosterlings of
Zeus, and they were minded to bind him with grievous bonds. But him the
fetters held not, and the withes fell far from his hands and feet. {214}
There sat he smiling with his dark eyes, but the steersman saw it, and
spake aloud to his companions: "Fools, what God have ye taken and bound?
a strong God is he, our trim ship may not contain him. Surely this is
Zeus, or Apollo of the Silver Bow, or Poseidon; for he is nowise like
mortal man, but like the Gods who have mansions in Olympus. Nay, come
let us instantly release him upon the dark mainland, nor lay ye your
hands upon him, lest, being wroth, he rouse against us masterful winds
and rushing storm."
So spake he, but their captain rebuked him with a hateful word: "Fool,
look thou to the wind, and haul up the sail, and grip to all the gear,
but this fellow will be for men to meddle with. Methinks he will come to
Egypt, or to Cyprus, or to the Hyperboreans, or further far; and at the
last he will tell us who his friends are, and concerning his wealth, and
his brethren, for the God has delivered him into our hands."
So spake he, and let raise the mast and hoist the mainsail, and the wind
filled the sail, and they made taut the ropes all round. But anon
strange matters appeared to them: first there flowed through all the
swift black ship a sweet and fragrant wine, and the ambrosial fragrance
arose, and fear fell upon all the mariners that beheld it. And
straightway a vine stretched hither and thither along the sail, hanging
with many a cluster, and dark ivy twined round the mast blossoming with
flowers, and gracious fruit and garlands grew on all the thole-pins; and
they that saw it bade the steersman drive straight to land. Meanwhile
within the ship the God changed into the shape of a lion at the bow; and
loudly he roared, and in midship he made a shaggy bear: such marvels he
showed forth: there stood it raging, and on the deck glared the lion
terribly. Then the men fled in terror to the stern, and there stood in
fear round the honest pilot. But suddenly sprang forth the lion and
seized the captain, and the men all at once leaped overboard into the
strong sea, shunning dread doom, and there were changed into dolphins.
But the God took pity upon the steersman, and kept him, and gave him all
good fortune, and spake, saying, "Be of good courage, Sir, dear art thou
to me, and I am Dionysus of the noisy rites whom Cadmeian Semele bare to
the love of Zeus." Hail, thou child of beautiful Semele, none that is
mindless of thee can fashion sweet minstrelsy.