trying to eat him; it was trying to help him.
This was no sea monster, but a dolphin!
Arion climbed onto the back of the dol-
phin, keeping one hand on its fin and the
other around his cithara. With a whistle and
a click and a big toothy grin, the dolphin
carried him to shore, calling all its dolphin
friends to join them. What a sight it was, a
sparkling glimmer of fins dipping and diving
and swooping and laughing, speeding over
the cresting, bubbling waves. You see, many
of Arion’s songs were about Poseidon, and the
sea god, understandably, was rather fond of
them. So when Poseidon had seen what the
pirates were planning, he had sent out his
fastest dolphin to lend a fin.
The villagers of Cape Taenarum, who
were fishing on the shore, looked on in disbe-
lief as Arion rode in surrounded by dolphins.
Some of them ran away in fright, while others
helped Arion out of the sea, leaving the happy
dolphins to gobble up their day’s catch. Had
the dolphins really waved goodbye, or was
that a trick of the light? The villagers dried
Arion’s clothes and provided him with shelter
and some food to eat. Despondent that he
couldn’t reward these kind people for their
help, Arion was pleased that all they asked
in payment was to hear him sing. After he
rested, he sang a hymn praising the greatness
of Poseidon and the grace of the dolphins. So
surprised were the people of Cape Taenarum
at what they had seen, that they dedicated a
small bronze statue of Arion and the dolphin
in their temple of Poseidon, that they would
never forget the events of that day.
Arion awoke early the next morning and
thanked the villagers once more before hur-
rying on his journey. A few days later, he
arrived at Corinth. Periander was overjoyed
to see his old friend. Arion told the tyrant
everything that had happened to him, how
the pirates had stolen his money, how he had
jumped overboard, and how the dolphin had31