Then again, we find among many of the Greeks
temples and altars frequently dedicated to Diana Dictynna
(so called from
δίκτυον,
a net) and Delphinian Apollo. And
that same place which Apollo has peculiarly chosen for
himself was first of all inhabited by Cretans, having a
dolphin for their leader. For the Deity did not swim before his army in another shape (as the mythologists dream),
but sending a dolphin to direct them in their course, the
dolphin brought them to Cirrha. Story also tells us that
Soteles and Dionysius, who were sent to Sinope by Ptolemy
Soter to fetch from thence Serapis, were driven by contrary
winds beyond Cape Malea, having the Peloponnesus upon
their right hands; while they were thus wandering and
out of their course, a dolphin appeared before the prow
of the headmost vessel, and (as it were) kindly inviting
[p. 214]
them, conducted them into safe harbors and roads, till by
his good guidance and leading them he at length brought
the whole fleet to Cirrha. There, when they came to offer
the usual sacrifices for their safe landing, they came to understand that, of two statues which were in the place, they
were to take that of Pluto and carry it along with them;
but as for that of Proserpina, they were only to take the
mould and leave the statue itself behind. Probable it is
that the Deity had a kindness for the dolphin, considering
how much he delights in music. For which reason Pindar
likens himself to the dolphin, and confesses himself to be
moved in the same manner as that noble creature,
Which flutes' beloved sound
Excites to play,
Upon the calm and placid sea.
Though it is very probable that his affection to men is
more pleasing to the Deity, he being the only creature that
bears an affection to man as man. For as for the land
animals, some kinds there are that fly him altogether, and
the tamest and most gentle follow him and are familiar
with him, only for the benefit and nourishment which they
receive from him; as the dog, the horse, and elephant.
The swallows, by necessity constrained, build in houses,
seeking shade and security, but are no less afraid of men
than of the wild beasts. Only to the dolphin has Nature
bequeathed that excellent quality, so much sought for by
the best of philosophers, to love for no advantage; for
that having no need at all of man, he is a kind friend to
all men, and has lent his assistance to many. There is no
man that is ignorant of the famous story of Arion. And
you, my dear friend, have seasonably put us in mind of
Hesiod; but
Thou didst not by a legal course
Rightly conclude thy long discourse.
1
[p. 215]
For when you had spoken so much in praise of the dog,
you should not have passed by the dolphin. For it would
have been a blind story of the dog that barked and flew
with violence upon the murderers, had it not been for the
dolphins, that took the carcass of Hesiod, floating in the
sea near Nemeum, and readily receiving it from one
another, landed it at Rhium, whereby the murder came to
be known.
Myrtilus the Lesbian writes, that Enalus the Aeolian,
being in love with the daughter of Phineus, who, by the
command of the oracle of Amphitrite was cast into the
sea by the Penthilidae, when he understood it, threw himself also into the sea, but was saved by a dolphin, and
carried to Lesbos.
But the gentleness and kindness of the dolphin towards
the lad of Jasus was so extraordinary that it might be said
to amount even to amorous love. For he played and swam
with him in the daytime, and suffered himself to be
handled and bestrid by him; nor did he swim away with
him, but joyfully carried him which way soever the lad by
the motion of his body turned him, while the Iasians
flocked from all parts to the shore to 'behold the sight.
At length the lad, being thrown from the dolphin's back
by a terrible shower of rain and hail, was drowned.
Which the dolphin perceiving took up the dead youth,
and threw himself upon the land together with the body,
from which he never stirred till he died out of his own
element; deeming it but just to partake of that end of
which he seemed to have been the occasion to his friend
and playfellow. Nor can the Iasians forget the accident,
but keep it still in remembrance by the stamp upon their
coin, which is a lad upon a dolphin's back.
And from hence it was that the fabulous stories of
Coeranus gained credit. He was a Parian by birth, who
residing at Byzantium, when a draught of dolphins caught
[p. 216]
in a net were exposed to sale and in danger of slaughter,
bought them up all, and put them into the sea again. It
happened not long after that Coeranus took a voyage in a
vessel of fifty oars, carrying, as the story goes, several
pirates. But between Naxos and the Bay of Paros he
suffered shipwreck; and when all the rest were drowned,
he alone was taken up by a dolphin that hastened to his
succor, and carried to Sicynthus, and set ashore near the
cave which to this day bears the name of Coeraneum.
Upon which Archilochus is said to have made these lines:
Of fifty men, great Neptune gentle grown
Left courteous Coeranus alive alone.
Some years after Coeranus dying, his relations burnt his
body near the seaside; at what time several dolphins appeared near the shore, as if they had come to his funeral;
nor would they stir till the funeral was over. Moreover
Stesichorus writes that Ulysses bore a dolphin painted
upon his shield; and for what reason the Zacynthian
records tell us, as Critheus testifies. For they say that
Telemachus, when he was but a boy, falling into the sea,
was saved by the dolphins that took him up and set him
ashore. And therefore he made use of a dolphin for the
impression of his seal and the ornament of his shield.
But having promised before that I would produce no fabulous stories, and yet being carried, I know not how, to discourse beyond probability of dolphins by this repetition of
the stories of Coeranus and Ulysses, I will do justice upon
myself by concluding here.
