clustering vine,
and dark masses of grapes hung from the branches. The ivy twined in
tangled masses round the tackling, and bright garlands shone, like
jeweled crowns, on every oar-pin. Then a great terror fell on all, as
they cried to the old helmsman, "Quick, turn the ship to the shore;
there is no hope for us here." But there followed a mightier wonder
still. A loud roar broke upon the air, and a tawny lion stood before
them, with a grim and grizzly bear by his side. Cowering like pitiful
slaves, the Tyrrhenians crowded to the stern, and crouched round the
good helmsman. Then the lion sprang and seized the chief, and the men
leaped in their agony over the ship's side. But the power of Dionysos
followed them still; and a change came over their bodies as they heard
a voice, which said, "In the form of dolphins shall ye wander through
the sea for many generations. No rest shall ye have by night or by
day, while ye fly from the ravenous sharks that shall chase you
through the seas."

But before the old helmsman again stood Dionysos, the young and fair,
in all the glory of undying beauty. Again his dark locks flowed gently
over his shoulders, and the purple robe rustled softly in the breeze.
"Fear not," he said, "good friend and true, because thou hast aided
one who is sprung from the deathless race of the gods. I am Dionysos,
the child of Zeus, the lord of the wine-cup and the revel. Thou hast
stood by me in the hour of peril; wherefore my power shall shield thee
from the violence of evil men and soothe thee in a green old age, till
thine eyes close in the sleep of death and thou goest forth to dwell
among brave heroes and good men in the asphodel meadows of Elysium."

Then at the bidding of Dionysos, the north wind came and wafted the
ship to the land of Egypt, where Proteus was King. And so began the
long wanderings of the son of Semele, through the regions of the
Ethiopians and the Indians, towards the rising of the sun.
Whithersoever he went, the women of the land gathered round him with
wild cries and songs, and he showed them of his secret things,
punishing grievously all who set at naught the laws which he ordained.
So, at his word, Lykurgos, the Edonian chieftain, was slain by his
people, and none dared any more to speak against Dionysos, until he
came back to the city where Semele, his mother, had been smitten by
the lightnings of Zeus.

PENTHEUS.

For many years Dionysos wandered far away from the land