Metamorphoses

Pentheus’s prisoner introduces himself as Acoetes. His parents were humble people who left him no material possessions after they died. Instead, Acoetes’s father left him with the skill for fishing. Over time, Acoetes learned how to sail a ship so he could use his skill for fishing in new regions.

One day, Acoetes’s fishing crew anchors their ship on an island called Chios where they spend the night. The next morning, as they board the ship, Acoetes notices that one of his men has captured a boy with a beautiful face who is stumbling in a drunken stupor. Looking at this boy, Acoetes is convinced that he is a god and not a mortal boy. Acoetes prays to the divine to forgive his men for capturing the god and not to ruin their voyage. Acoetes’s men rise up against their captain, trying to knock him overboard.

Bacchus (the captured boy) wakes up from his drowsy state and asks what is happening and where the sailors are plotting to take him. One of the sailors asks Bacchus where he’d like to be taken. Bacchus replies that his homeland is Naxos, and if they take him there, he will be safe. Acoetes starts to sail right towards Naxos, but one of his men whispers maliciously for him to steer the other way and takes over the wheel.

Bacchus, realizing that the sailors are deceiving him, pretends to weep and asks why grown men enjoy playing a trick on a boy. Acoetes cries with him. Suddenly, the ship stops. Confused, the sailors try to row, but their oars have become overgrown with ivy. Bacchus is suddenly crowned with grape vines and surrounded by tigers and lynxes. The sailors jump up in fear, but their bodies start to turn black and scaly. Finally, they become dolphins and dive into the sea. Acoetes, who is untransformed, sails Bacchus to Naxos. There, he worships Bacchus and joins his religion.