Occidental
Law Group’s logo depicts the black ship from the myth, “Dionysus
and the Pirates.” The story relates the triumph of enlightenment
over ignorance. Its also a parable of the wisdom of teaming oriental
idealism (the East) with Occidental rationality (the West).
The
story goes like this. Disguised as a fisherman, the god of wine was
inventing a new fishing net when he was spotted by a band of pirates.
They cornered him, destroyed his gear, stole his wine and shackled him
to their beautiful black ship.
The
pirates’ ship was steered by a wise helmsman. The helmsman was
also a captive but could navigate by watching the waves, understood
the ways of the ancients and wrote beautiful letters. The helmsman quickly
saw beneath the fisherman’s mask and realized their prisoner was
a god. The helmsman warned the captain, but to no avail. That night
the helmsman loosened the prisoner’s shackles, but knocked over
a jar of his wine. The spirits ran through the ship disorienting the
pirates, turning Dionysus into a lion and transforming the helmsman
into a bear. The lion and the bear took control of the ship and threw
the pirates overboard!
Grapevines
wound around the mast and stretched across the sails. The visionary
god and the enlightened helmsman painted a map of the World on their
sail, became trusted colleagues, successful traders and productive fisherman.
The captain was devoured by sea creatures while the pirates became dolphins
that followed the ship from port to port.
The
ship reminds us that by looking beneath the mask, a wise and trusted
colleague can turn disaster into triumph.
