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hawkwing_lbTo Dionysos
I will call to mind Dionysos, son of Semele of great renown,
How he appeared beside the shore of the barren sea,
On an out-thrust headland, like young mortal man
In youthful prime. Round [his head] his long fine dark-glossy hair
Stood in disarray, and around his sturdy shoulders he bore a wide red
Cloak. Then soon swift plunderers, men, Tyrsenians, from
A well-benched ship came into sight upon the wine-dark sea:
An ill doom led them on. Seeing him [Dionysos]
They signalled to one another, and they leapt upon [him] hastily.
And as soon as they had seized him,
They [re-embarked] on their own ship, glad at heart,
For they thought he was the son of Zeus-fostered kings,
And they meant to hold him fast in painful imprisonment.
But the bonds did not hold him, and the withies fell away
From his hands and his feet: and with his steel-blue-dark eyes
He sat grinning. And the helmsman, when he noticed [this],
Immediately called to his companions and exclaimed:
“God-maddened ones! What mighty god here did you, seizing [him],
Put in chains? Not even [our] well-wrought ship can carry him off as plunder.
Is this Zeus or Apollo of the silver bow,
or Poseidon? For [he is] not like death-doomed mortals who bleed from their wounds
but [rather like] gods, they who have Olympian halls.
But come! We should set him free on the black plain
At once. Don’t lay hands on [him], lest he, being angered
Might call forth against [us] grievous winds and mighty tempests.”
So he spoke. But [his] leader rebuked him with a loathesome word:
“God-maddened one, look to the fair wind, and hoist the ship’s sails,
When you take hold of all the rigging: the men will take care of this one here.
I suppose he means to reach Egypt or Cyprus,
Or the North-Beyond-the-North, or even farther off: but ultimately
He will speak of his friends and all his property
And his own brothers, since a god let him fall to us.”
Speaking thus, he hoisted the ship’s mast and sail,
And the wind swelled the sail’s centre, and they drew tight
The rigging. But soon marvelous-strange works appeared to them.
First of all, fragrant wine, sweet to drink, gushed out alongside the swift black ship,
And a divine odour stirred,
And astonishment took hold of every sailor who saw.
And presently at the highest point across the sail
A wild vine spread out - now here, now there - and many grapes hung suspended.
And black ivy wound itself round the mast,
Blooming with flowers, and on it awakened fine fruit.
And all the oar-pins bore crowns. And when they [the sailors] saw [this],
They ordered the helmsman – right then! – to bring the ship
To land, but he [Dionysos] became a terrible lion right there in the ship,
On the foremost part of the bow, and he roared loudly, and in the [ship’s] waist
Making portents appear, he produced a shaggy-rough-necked bear,
And he made it stand in fury, all the while in the bow
The terrible lion looked grimly on: and they [the sailors] were put to flight into the stern,
And they stopped the helmsman – a man who had a spirit with self-control –
For they were driven from their senses. Suddenly springing
At the leader, he [Dionysos] killed him, and they [the sailors] all together
Leapt overboard, escaping an ill doom. And when they looked in the divine salt sea
They became dolphins. But he [Dionysos] kept back the helmsman,
Showing mercy to him, and he made for him every blessing, and he spoke a word:
“Be of good courage, heavenly [leader?], since you are pleasing to my spirit.
I am loud-roaring Dionysos, who a mother bore –
[She was] Kadmeian Semele – after having sexual intercourse in affection with Zeus.”
Hail, child of well-regarded Semele! He who
Forgets you is in no way able to adorn sweet song.
I will call to mind Dionysos, son of Semele of great renown,
How he appeared beside the shore of the barren sea,
On an out-thrust headland, like young mortal man
In youthful prime. Round [his head] his long fine dark-glossy hair
Stood in disarray, and around his sturdy shoulders he bore a wide red
Cloak. Then soon swift plunderers, men, Tyrsenians, from
A well-benched ship came into sight upon the wine-dark sea:
An ill doom led them on. Seeing him [Dionysos]
They signalled to one another, and they leapt upon [him] hastily.
And as soon as they had seized him,
They [re-embarked] on their own ship, glad at heart,
For they thought he was the son of Zeus-fostered kings,
And they meant to hold him fast in painful imprisonment.
But the bonds did not hold him, and the withies fell away
From his hands and his feet: and with his steel-blue-dark eyes
He sat grinning. And the helmsman, when he noticed [this],
Immediately called to his companions and exclaimed:
“God-maddened ones! What mighty god here did you, seizing [him],
Put in chains? Not even [our] well-wrought ship can carry him off as plunder.
Is this Zeus or Apollo of the silver bow,
or Poseidon? For [he is] not like death-doomed mortals who bleed from their wounds
but [rather like] gods, they who have Olympian halls.
But come! We should set him free on the black plain
At once. Don’t lay hands on [him], lest he, being angered
Might call forth against [us] grievous winds and mighty tempests.”
So he spoke. But [his] leader rebuked him with a loathesome word:
“God-maddened one, look to the fair wind, and hoist the ship’s sails,
When you take hold of all the rigging: the men will take care of this one here.
I suppose he means to reach Egypt or Cyprus,
Or the North-Beyond-the-North, or even farther off: but ultimately
He will speak of his friends and all his property
And his own brothers, since a god let him fall to us.”
Speaking thus, he hoisted the ship’s mast and sail,
And the wind swelled the sail’s centre, and they drew tight
The rigging. But soon marvelous-strange works appeared to them.
First of all, fragrant wine, sweet to drink, gushed out alongside the swift black ship,
And a divine odour stirred,
And astonishment took hold of every sailor who saw.
And presently at the highest point across the sail
A wild vine spread out - now here, now there - and many grapes hung suspended.
And black ivy wound itself round the mast,
Blooming with flowers, and on it awakened fine fruit.
And all the oar-pins bore crowns. And when they [the sailors] saw [this],
They ordered the helmsman – right then! – to bring the ship
To land, but he [Dionysos] became a terrible lion right there in the ship,
On the foremost part of the bow, and he roared loudly, and in the [ship’s] waist
Making portents appear, he produced a shaggy-rough-necked bear,
And he made it stand in fury, all the while in the bow
The terrible lion looked grimly on: and they [the sailors] were put to flight into the stern,
And they stopped the helmsman – a man who had a spirit with self-control –
For they were driven from their senses. Suddenly springing
At the leader, he [Dionysos] killed him, and they [the sailors] all together
Leapt overboard, escaping an ill doom. And when they looked in the divine salt sea
They became dolphins. But he [Dionysos] kept back the helmsman,
Showing mercy to him, and he made for him every blessing, and he spoke a word:
“Be of good courage, heavenly [leader?], since you are pleasing to my spirit.
I am loud-roaring Dionysos, who a mother bore –
[She was] Kadmeian Semele – after having sexual intercourse in affection with Zeus.”
Hail, child of well-regarded Semele! He who
Forgets you is in no way able to adorn sweet song.
