Delphinus
The Constellations 31
This is how the dolphin came to be placed among the stars. When Poseidon wished to make Amphitrite his wife, she, out of modesty, fled to Mount Atlas, eager to preserve her virginity. Most of the Nereids followed her into hiding. Poseidon sent out many searchers to find her, among them the dolphin. While wandering about the islands of Atlas, the dolphin discovered Amphitrite, whereupon it announced her discovery and brought her to Poseidon, who married her and decreed the highest honors of the sea for the dolphin. He declared the dolphin sacred and placed an image of it among the stars. Those who wish to please Poseidon, represent him holding the dolphin in his hand, and thus render to the dolphin the highest possible honor for the service it provided. Artemidorus tells the story in his elegies on Eros.
The Dolphin has one star on the mouth; two on the dorsal fin; three on the ventral fins; one on the back; two on the tail. The total is nine. Because the number of stars [in Delphinus] corresponds to the number of Muses, this animal is said to be fond of music.
Poetic Astronomy 2.17
The reason why the dolphin was placed among the stars is recounted by Eratosthenes and others: when Neptune wished to take Amphitrite as his wife, she preferred to maintain her virginity and hid near Mount Atlas. Many were sent to find her, among them a certain Delphinus, who, wandering about the islands, finally came upon the maiden and persuaded her to marry Neptune; Delphinus himself conducted the marriage ceremony. For this reason Neptune placed the image of a dolphin among the stars. Furthermore, we see that those who make images of Neptune represent him with a dolphin either in his hand or under his foot, because they judge the dolphin to be pleasing to Neptune.
However, Aglaosthenes, who wrote the Naxica, says there were some Tyrrhenian shipmasters who were to take the child Liber, along with some companions of his, to Naxos, and there to give him over to his nymph nurses. Both our writers, in books about the origins of the gods, and also many Greek writers, say that Liber was raised by these nymphs. But, to return to our story, the shipmasters, driven by the hope of ransom, sought to divert the ship. Suspecting this, Liber ordered his companions to sing all together. Hearing this unheard of sound, the Tyrrhenians were so delighted with it that they even began to dance about and, in their delight, unwittingly hurled themselves into the sea, where they were changed into dolphins. Liber, because he wished to provide a reminder of them among the human race, placed the image of one of them among the stars.
Others, however, say this is the dolphin that carried Arion the citharode from the Sicilian Sea to Taenarum. Arion was preeminent in his art and earned his living by touring the islands. His young slaves, judging that there was greater advantage in freedom gained by treachery than in peaceful servitude, considered that if they threw their master overboard, they could divide his belongings among them. Arion, when he perceived their plot, requested, not as master from slaves or as an innocent victim from wicked men, but as a parent from his sons, that he be permitted to put on the robe he had often worn in victory, since there was no one other than himself who could mark his misfortune with a lament. When he obtained his request, he took up his cithara, and began to lament his own death. Drawn by the sound, dolphins from all parts of the sea swam up to hear the singing of Arion. Invoking the power of the immortal gods, Arion threw himself upon the dolphins, and one of them took him on its back and carried him to the shore of Taenarum. Because of this, the statue of Arion which was set up there as a memorial has the image of a dolphin affixed to it, and thus the dolphin was depicted among the stars by ancient astronomers. The slaves, who thought they had escaped from servitude, were driven by a storm to Taenarum, where they were apprehended by their master, who inflicted no small punishment upon them.
The figure has one star on the head; two stars above the head on the neck; three stars appear like wings on the belly; one on the back; two on the tail. The total number of stars is nine.
Commentary
The ancient Greeks considered the dolphin the most philanthropic of all creatures and related numerous stories of its service to man.[1] An example is the rescue of Arion by a dolphin, cited here by Hyginus, and elsewhere by many classical authors, which probably gave rise to the widespread boy-on-a-dolphin motif in classical art.[2]
Although Poseidon's association with dolphins, noted by both Ps-Eratosthenes and Hyginus, is widely represented in art, it is attested by few literary allusions.[3] Similarly, recognition of Amphitrite as Poseidon's official consort is sparse in classical literature. The extant literary tradition of this myth begins with The Constellations.[4]
Hyginus offers an interesting variation of the motif by anthropomorphizing the philanthropic dolphin. Although he cites Eratosthenes as a source, the Latin author transforms the discoverer of Amphitrite's hiding place into a man, whom he names Delphinus. Further evidence of an anthropomorphic interpretation of the dolphin in connection with this constellation is provided by the scholiast on Aratus, who refers the epithet Delphinius to the shape assumed by Apollo when he led the Cretans to Delphi.[5]
The dolphin was not only viewed as the emblem of philanthropy and service by the Greeks and Romans; a well established tradition, attested by ancient authors of natural history as well as poets, also associates the dolphin with love of music. This tradition accounts for the correspondence noted in The Constellations between the number of stars in the constellation and the nine Muses.[6]
The number of stars comprising Delphinus is nine according to Ps-Eratosthenes, Hyginus and Hipparchus; ten according to Ptolemy.
Little is known concerning the history of this constellation, and there is no evidence to suggest a Babylonian connection.[7]