Reader

POSEIDON It’s greatly to the credit of you dolphins, that you’ve always been kind to men. Long ago you caught up Ino’s son Melicertes, son of Athamas, who became the sea-god Palaemon, while his mother became Leucothea. Cf. following dialogue. after his fall with his mother from the Scironian cliffs, and carried him to the Isthmus. And now one of you has picked up this harper from Methymna, Arion. and swum away with him to Taenarum, robes and harp and all, stopping those seamen from murdering him. DOLPHIN Don’t be surprised, Poseidon, that we’re kind to men. We were men ourselves, before we became fishes. It wasn’t very nice of Dionysus to change our shape after he’d beaten us in that sea-battle; he ought merely to have reduced us to submission as he did to all the others. POSEIDON But what’s the true story about Arion, my dear dolphin?

DOLPHIN Periander was fond of him, I believe, and would be continually sending for him to perform. But when the tyrant had made him a rich man, Arion became eager to sail off home to Methymna and show off his riches. So he embarked on a passage-boat, but the crew were scoundrels, and, when he let them see that he had a great deal of gold and silver with him, they plotted against him in mid Aegean. But—I heard it all, for I was swimming alongside the ship—he said to them, “Since your minds are made up, at least allow me to put on my robes and sing my own dirge, and then I’ll be willing to throw myself into the sea.” The crew agreed; he dressed up and sang a beautiful song, and jumped into the sea to ensure a quick death if nothing else. But I caught him up, and put him on my back and swam all the way to Taenarum with him. POSEIDON Your love of music does you great credit. You paid him well for the song you heard.