The Legend of Delphinus Delphinus: the constellation of the dolphin is an ancient one. Dolphins are usually seen as the mediators between the gods and men.
Greece: Poseidon was looking for a wife and chose Amphirite, one of the Nereids. She refused him and hid herself in the Atlas mountains in what is now Morocco. Poseidon sent a dolphin to plead his case and she agreed to marry the sea god. She bore him three daughters: Triton, Rhode and Benthesicyme. In mythology these three daughters represent the lucky new moon, the full harvest moon and the dangerous waning moon respectively. In later stories, Triton was masculinized. The dolphin was immortalized in the sky.
Poseidon, like Zeus, had his extramarital dalliances. One produced a son, Arion, who was a beautiful and talented bard, musician and poet. While in Sicily for a competition he won first prize and the envy of the sailors who were to bring him home to his patron, the tyrant-king of Corinth, Periander. Stealing his wealth and preparing to throw him overboard, Arion begged to be allowed to die as a bard, singing and playing his lyre. The music drew a school of dolphins to the surface to listen. Arion jumped into the water after singing his last and the dolphins allowed him to ride on their backs. They returned him to the shores of Corinth before the ship could reach port. The dolphin who transported him even threw itself onto the beach to be sure he was safe and died in the process. Periander erected a monument to the dolphin on the beach and when the ship returned with the thieving sailors he had them crucified on the beach before the monument.
China: known by the name Tien-Kion, the Celestial Stable, in honor of the horse sacrifices that were a common practice at the time. In the spring, with the rising of the constellation, horse sacrifices would occur and the blood of the animal were smeared on the stable walls.
India: called Shi-shu-mara, the porpoise.Back to the Constellations
