"The Dolphin"
Mythology:
Delphinus seems to appear in many places in mythology, and even many cultures.
The ancient Greeks thought Delphinus was the "Sacred Fish" (they didn't
understand the mammalian nature of dolphins) that helped Poseidon find
his wife, Amphitrite (a Nereid Sea Nymph): When Poseidon first saw
Amphitrite, he fell instantly in love with her, but she refused his advances
and marriage proposal. Poseidon sent the Dolphin to convince Amphitrite
to change her mind. When the Dolphin was successful, Poseidon rewarded
the Dolphin by placing it among the stars. Amphitrite and Poseidon
(Neptune) had a son, Triton. Not surprisingly, Triton is the large
moon around the planet Neptune. In 1949 the next largest moon of
Neptune was discovered by Gerard Kuiper. In keeping with the story
and tradition, this moon was named Nereid in honor of Neptune's (Poseidon's)
wife Amphitrite.
Another story claims that Delphinus is the dolphin that carried the Greek
poet Arion safely to shore to escape his enemies. Arion was a member
of the court of King Periander of Corinth. Since he was not born
in Corinth, Arion began to miss his homeland. Although a successful
member of the King's court, he asked Periander for permission to leave.
Periander reluctantly agreed, and Arion boarded a ship toward home.
During the trip, however, the sailors turned on Arion, and threw him overboard
to take his possessions. As Arion was in the sea, he sang to Apollo
with the same voice that had made him such a success in the King's court.
Apollo then sent the dolphin Delphinus to save Arion. The crew that
robbed Arion was arrested upon returning to Corinth and were executed.
As a result, Arion was able to retrieve his stolen items. He was
so grateful to Apollo for both sending Delphinus to save him and for the
return of his things that he constructed a small dolphin and placed it
in the Temple of Apollo. Apollo later placed the statue of the dolphin
into the stars for its heroism.
In other cultures, Delphinus has been found on Italian coins dating back
to 500 BC, and in Hebrew legend, Delphinus is considered the fish that
carried Jonah.