gravings, and in stucco floors as at Tiryns. Among the impor- 

 tations from Crete into Helladic art appear to have been certain 

 styhzed forms of the dolphin. 



An early literary reference to the dolphin occurs in Aesop's 

 fable, "The Monkey and the Dolphin." During a violent storm 

 a ship was capsized, and among those thrown into the water was 

 a monkey. Observing its distress a dolphin came to its rescue, 

 and taking the monkey upon its back the dolphin headed for 

 shore. Opposite Piraeus, the harbor of Athens, the dolphin in- 

 quired of the monkey whether he was an Athenian. "Oh, yes," 

 replied the monkey, "and from one of the best families." "Then 

 you know Piraeus," said the dolphin. "Very well, indeed," said 

 the monkey, "he is one of my most intimate friends." Where- 

 upon, outraged by so gross a deceit, the dolphin took a deep dive 

 and left the monkey to its fate. 



I take it that ever since that day monkeys have very sensibly 

 refrained from speech. It is far better to remain silent even at 

 the risk of being taken for a fool or a rogue, than to open one's 

 mouth and remove all doubt. 



Aesop flourished about 600 B.C. His story suggests a consid- 

 erable knowledge of the ways of dolphins, and this indicates 

 that knowledge of the dolphin was already old in his time. 



There are several variant Greek myths on the origin of the 

 dolphin. All of them relate to Dionysos. In one version Dionysos 

 is an adult, in another he is a child. The first group of legends 

 represent the epiphany of Dionysos, symbolizing the battle be- 

 tween winter and summer. Winter is represented by the death 

 of Dionysos who disappears into the water, from which he is 

 brought back on the top of a dolphin as the returning springtime 

 (Apollodorus, III, 5, 3). Another version has Dionysos, whether 

 as child or adult varies, being conveyed by ship to Naxos by 

 Tyrrhenian mariners. The latter conceive the idea of kidnaping 

 him. Dionysos senses their treachery, and bidding his com- 

 panions strike up on their musical instruments, he produces a 



7 



