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Stories

There are lots of old stories about dolphins that took place thousands of years ago and not only.

Telemachus, the son of navigator Odysseus, fell into the sea and he nearly drowned. Fortunately, a dolphin saved him and brought him ashore. As a result of this, he thanked the dolphin by engraving a dolphin onto his shield. "And this was why his father had dolphins engraved on his ring and emblazoned on his shield, making his requital to the animal".

An occurence is mentioned in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Arion, a rich poet and musician had his life threatened by pirates on board his ship. His last will was to sing one last song, and since he must die, he wished to jump overboard, taking his own life. After a very high-pitched, long, whaling song, Arion jumped overboard. But he did not drown. A dolphin carried him about 200 miles to shore. The greek people say that Arion was not a god and that this is true and happened while Pereander was king at about 60 years BC.

In about the year 200 AD Athenaios and Aelian both told the following story. A boy, Dionysios, had somehow made friends with a wild dolphin. The village people would come out on "weekends" to watch the boy and dolphin play. It seems that the dolphin would take the boy far out to sea and stay gone for a "long" time, possibly most of the day. No definite times were given. Hence the length of this relationship is not known., but the fact that "rarely did anyone come anymore" made it sound like old stuff. Possibly it went on for several years before the dolphin met his tragic end. He followed the boy too far one day and was stranded on the beach. No one was around to help carry the dolphin back to sea and the dolphin died.
In 1962 a dolphin became very famous at Oponoi beach for his friendliness with people. He would show up every day and allow the children to play with him. About two thousand years ago in the Roman colonial town Hippo (now Bigerta, Africa, near Tunis) in the mouth of Hokianga Harbor a dolphin also allowed himself to be played with. In each case one person was allowed to ride on the dolphin's back.

There is a greek legend that shows that the greeks did consider the dolphin more than just a fish: Dionysos, god of wine and frenzy, was mistaken and to be sold as slave. He was aroused to anger and changed the rowing oars into snakes. When the men felt "madness" coming on they leaped overboard, turning into dolphins. This is how the first dolphins were created, and why dolphins always help man.