And Apollonius the Rhodian or Naucratian, in his History of the foundation of Naucratis, says, "Pompilus was originally a man; and he was changed into a fish, on account of some love affair of Apollo's. For the river Imbrasus flows by the city of the Samians,—
And join'd to him, the fairest of the nymphs,They say then that Apollo fell in love with her and endeavored to ravish her; and that she having crossed over to Miletus at the time of some festival of Diana, when the endeavour was about to be made to carry her off, being afraid of such an attempt being made, and being on her guard, entreated Pompilus, who was a seafaring man and a friend of her father, to conduct her safe back again to her own country, saying this,—
The young and noble Chesias, bore a daughter,
The lovely maid Ocyrhoe—her whose beauty
Was the kind Hours' heaven-descended gift.
O Pompilus, to whose wise breast are knownAnd they say that he led her down to the shore, and conducted her safely across the sea: and that Apollo appeared and carried off the maiden, and sunk the ship with stones, and metamorphosed Pompilus into a fish of the same name, and that he made
The rapid depths of the hoarse roaring sea,
Show that your mind doth recollect my sire,
Who was your friend, and save his daughter now.
The Pompilus an everlasting slave
Of ships that swiftly pass along the sea.
