THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

FABULA VIII.
TYRRHENI NAUTjE IN DELPHINOS MUTATI.
£aoorms while, asleep on the isle of Naxos, is found by some sailors, and
carried on board a ship. Awaking from sleep, the god desires to be carried to
Naxos; but, after promising to take him thither, the treacherous sailors steer
. in a contrary direction. Perceiving this, the god causes a sudden prodigy to
happen; the vine and ivy overspread the sails, and impede the oars, and ter
rible forms of wild beasts appear in different parts of the ship, which affright
the sailors. They throw themselves into the ssa, and become dolphins.
EXPLICATIO.
MIRACLES were necessary to give some character to the clajns of the
new deity, and hence arose the accounts of the Tyrrhene sailors, of the
transformation of the daughters of Minyas into bats, and other deeds of
power by Bacchus. The story of the transformation of the Tyrrhenian
sailors was copied by Ovid from Homer, who gives a very spirited
description of it. Homer assigns as a reason for their carrying off the
youthful god, that they mistook him for the son of some king, and ex
pected to obtain a large amount of money for him, by way of ransom.
The story, as told by Ovid, is quite interesting. The youth, the beauty,
and feminine tenderness of the child; his surprise on awaking; his
yearning for home, and his tears at the discovery of the treachery of the
sailors, are in striking contrast with the bold, reckless and murderous
chaiacter of the wild and savage cre.vv around him, leagued against one
whose helpless age and innocence appealed to every generous sentiment.
The fable rests most probably on some historical basis which the poets
have woven into an agreeable fiction. Some Tyrrhene pirates may have
made a descent upon the island of Naxos, which was famous for the cele
bration of the orgies of Bacchus, and having offered some insult to the
ceremonies, or made an attack upon the Bacchanals, may have been pur
sued to their ship, and been destroyed or thrown overboard by the Bac
chantes, before they could get their vessel under weigh. And as the
dolphins are accustomed to play around ships when at sea, and seem not
to be afraid of mankind, hence it may have been fabled that they were at
one time human beings. These dolphins were properly porpoises.
The fable is also susceptible of another interpretation. The Tyrrhene
sailors, while unacquainted with the properties of wine, may have seized
some casks of it, and carried it away with them, and on discovering the
pleasantness of its taste, may have indulged in drinking until they have
lost the control of the ship, and running upon a rock, may have been
wrecked and drowned, with the exception of Accetes, whose reverence
for the deity, in other words, his continence and consequent sobriety, may
have enabled him to reach land. It is a beautiful moral sentiment, that
the pure in heart, and honest in intention, though poor in fortune, are the
especial objects of the regards of the deity. Thus the poor fisherman
Accetes is made the high-priest of Bacchus; and thus the simple-hearted
fishermen of Galilee were made the companions of a manifested God
and the apostles and priests of a more sublime faith, and a purer practice
244
SPICIT hunc oculis Pentheus, quos ira tremendos
Fecerat; et, quanquam pcense vix tempora differt,
O periture; tuaque aliis documenta dature
Morte, ait; ede tuum nomen, iiomenque parentum,
Et patriam; morisque, novi cur sacra frequentes. 5
NOTjE.
1. A spicil Penllteus. The king is only enraged the more when he
sees the leader of the sacrifices before him. Some have imagined,
because, in Euripides, the priest that is taken, is Bacchus in disguise,
that we are to consider Accetee in the same light; but on a due exam
ination of the story, as told by the two poets, it is evident that Ovid
intends to represent Acoetee as the priest of Bacchus, and nothing
more.
3. Documenta: an example ; a warning.
4. Ede tuum nomen. In Euripides, where Bacchus in disguise is
taken by the attendants of Penthcus, the dialogue is well calculated
to exasperate the furious prince.
PEN. But speak, inform me first whence is thy race.
BAG. Without proud prelude plainly will I lell thee.
Of flowery Timolus thou pcrrhance hast heard.
FEN. Ils heights, I know, wind round the walls of J?ardis.
BAC. From llience I coine, and Lydia is my country.
FEN. Whence bust tliou brought these my«-
tic rites to Greece?
BAC. Bacchus instructed us, the son of Jove.
PEN. Have you a Jove there who begets new
gods?
BAC. No: but the Jove that here loved Se-
mele.
PEN. Taught he his mj atic lore by night or
day?
!(AC. Seeing and seen, and gave bis sacred
orgies.
PEN. What ceremonious riles have these
among you ?
BAC. These to the unhallowed may not be
revealed.
PEN. What profit to their votaries do they
bring*
BAC. Thou moyst not hear, though worthy to
be known.
PEN. Well hast thou waived what is my wish
to hear.
BAC. The orgies of the god abhor the impious.
PEN. The god was eefn by thee: what was
his form?
BAC. Even such as pleased him: this I of.
dered not.
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