When the ancient had ended, Zeus Allwise for a time turned over his infinite wisdom in thoughtful silence, and gave rein to his mind ; one after another the meditations of that creative brain revolved before him ; and at last Cronides addressed his divine voice to Time, and revealed oracles higher than the prophetic centre :
“Father self-begotten, of the ever-flowing years, be not angry ; the human race waxes and wanes like the moon, and never fails or forgets its season. Leave nectar to the Blessed and I will give mankind to heal their sorrows delicious wine, another drink like nectar self-distilled, and one suited to mortals. The world will sorrow still, until he is delivered of one child. I am father and mother both ; I shall suffer the woman’s pangs in my man’s thigh, that I may save the fruit of my […]. Yesterday at the nod of my Deo, lady of wide threshing-floors, the earth dug by the iron wooer ; of corn was delivered of the dry fruit of the sheaf-bearing soil. Now also my son, bringer of a glorious gift, shall plant in the earth the moist fragrant fruit of vintage, the Allheal—my son Dionysos Alljoy will cherish the nosorrow grape, and rival Demeter. Then you will commend me when you watch the vine reddening with wine-teeming dew, herald of the merry heart and the countrymen at the winepress treading the fruit with heavy feet ; and the revelling company of Bassarids shaking their mad hair unkempt into the wind over their shoulders. Then all in jubilation will cry Euoi over the echoing table with mutual toasts, in honour of Dionysos the protector of the human race. This my son after struggles on earth, after the battle with the giants, after the Indian War, will be received by the bright upper air to shine beside Zeus and to share the courses of the stars. So the god shall wind a tendril of garden vines laid upon the bright ivy round his locks for his garland, having a serpent-coronet as a sign of new godhead. He shall have equal honour with the gods, and among men he shall be named Dionysos of the Vine, as Hermes called Goldenrod, Ares Brazen, Apollo Farshooter.
The Father spoke, the Portioners applauded ; at his words the light-foot Seasons shouted as a […] of things to come. Their parley done they separated, Time to Harmonia’s house, the other to the fine-wrought chamber of Hera.
Now Eros the wise, the self-taught, the manager of the ages, knocked at the gloomy gates of primeval Chaos. He took out the divine quiver, in which were kept apart twelve firefed arrows for Zeus, when his desire turned towards one or another of mortal women for a bride. Right on the back of his quiver of love-bolts he had engraved with letters of gold a sentence in verse for each : The ninth a noble stallion gives unto Perrhaibid Dia.” The tenth three full-moon nights of bliss gives to Alcmena’s bedmate. The eleventh goes to carry out Laodameia’s bridal.” The twelfth draws to Olympias her thrice-encircling husband,”
When Eros had seen and handled each in turn, he put back the other fire-barbed shafts, and taking the fifth he fitted it to the shining bowstring but first he put a sprig of ivy on the barb of the winged arrow, to be a fitting chaplet for the god of the vine, and dipt the whole shaft in a bowl of nectar, that Bacchos might grow a nectareal vintage,
While Eros was fluttering along to the house of Zeus, Semele also was out with the rosy morning, shaking the cracks of her silver whip while she drove her mules through the city ; and the light straight track of her cartwheels only scratched the very top of the dust. She had brushed away from her eyes the oblivious wing of sleep, and sent her mind wandering after the image of a dream with riddling oracles. She thought she saw in a garden a tree with fair air from heaven, and laid the whole tree flat, but did not touch its fruit ; then a bird flying with outspread wings caught up the fruit half-grown, and carried it yet lacking maturity to Cronion. The Father received it in his kindly bosom, and sewed it up in his thigh ; then instead of the fruit, a bull-horned figure of a man came forth complete over his loins. Semele was the tree. The girl leapt from her couch trembling, and told her father the terrifying tale of leafy dreams and fiery blast. King Cadmos was shaken when he heard of Semele’s fire-burnt tree, and that same morn he summoned the divine seer Teiresias son of Chariclo, and told him his daughter’s fiery dreams. As soon as he heard the seer’s inspired interpretation, the father sent his daughter to their familiar temple of Athena, and bade her sacrifice to thunder-hurling Zeus a bull, the image of like-horned Lysios, and a boar, vine-ravaging enemy of the vintage to […] […] […] […] […] […] […] […] […] […] […] […]
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