I will tell of Dionysus, the son of
 glorious Semele, how he appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of the
 fruitless sea, seeming like a stripling in the first flush of manhood: his
 rich, dark hair was waving about him, and on his strong shoulders he wore a purple robe. Presently there came
 swiftly over the sparkling sea Tyrsenian Probably not Etruscans, but the non-Hellenic peoples of Thrace and (according to
 Thucydides) of Lemnos and
 Athens . Cp. Herodotus i.
 57; Thucydides iv. 109. pirates on a well-decked ship —a
 miserable doom led them on. When they saw him they made signs to one another
 and sprang out quickly, and seizing him straightway put him on board their ship exultingly; for they thought
 him the son of heaven-nurtured kings. They sought to bind him with rude
 bonds, but the bonds would not hold him, and the withes fell far away from
 his hands and feet: and he sat with a smile in his dark eyes. Then the helmsman understood all and
 cried out at once to his fellows and said: “Madmen! what god is this whom you have taken and bind, strong that he
 is? Not even the well-built ship can carry him. Surely this is either Zeus
 or Apollo who has the silver bow, or
 Poseidon, for he looks not like mortal men but like the gods who dwell on
 Olympus . Come, then, let us set
 him free upon the dark shore at once: do not lay hands on him, lest he grow
 angry and stir up dangerous winds and heavy squalls.” So said he: but the master chid him
 with taunting words: “Madman, mark the wind and help hoist sail on the
 ship: catch all the sheets. As for this fellow we men will see to him: I
 reckon he is bound for Egypt or for
 Cyprus or to the Hyperboreans
 or further still. But in the end he
 will speak out and tell us his friends and all his wealth and his brothers,
 now that providence has thrown him in our way.” 
 
 When he had said this, he had mast and sail hoisted on the ship, and the wind
 filled the sail and the crew hauled taut the sheets on either side. But soon
 strange things were seen among them. First of all sweet, fragrant wine ran streaming throughout all the black
 ship and a heavenly smell arose, so that all the seamen were seized with
 amazement when they saw it. And all at once a vine spread out both ways
 along the top of the sail with many clusters hanging down from it, and a dark ivy-plant twined about
 the mast, blossoming with flowers, and with rich berries growing on it; and
 all the thole-pins were covered with garlands. When the pirates saw all
 this, then at last they bade the helmsman to put the ship to land. But the
 god changed into a dreadful lion there on the ship, in the bows, and roared loudly: amidships also he showed
 his wonders and created a shaggy bear which stood up ravening, while on the
 forepeak was the lion glaring fiercely with scowling brows. And so the
 sailors fled into the stern and crowded bemused about the right-minded
 helmsman, until suddenly the lion sprang upon the master and seized him; and when the sailors saw it they
 leapt out overboard one and all into the bright sea, escaping from a
 miserable fate, and were changed into dolphins. But on the helmsman Dionysus
 had mercy and held him back and made him altogether happy, saying to
 him: “Take courage, good ; you have
 found favour with my heart. I am loud-crying Dionysus whom Cadmus' daughter
 Semele bare of union with Zeus.” 
 Hail, child of fair-faced Semele! He who forgets you can in no wise order
 sweet song.