returned Arion’s silver to him, the two friends
shared a rich feast in the tyrant’s banquet hall
in celebration of his return.
As the sun set over the mountains and
cast a warm glow over the sea, the sound
of song filled Periander’s court once more.
From his home beneath the waves, Poseidon
looked on and smiled, running his hand over
the dolphin that had rescued Arion. As the
moisture ran off the dolphin’s back, the dewy
drops twinkled like stars. And if you look up,
after the sun has dipped its head below the
horizon, you can still see the dolphin swim-
ming in the wine-dark sea of night, and hear
the words of Arion’s song at Cape Taenarum
echoing through the mists of time:
Most high of the gods,
Oceanic Poseidon of the gold-trident,
Earth-Shaker encircled in the salt-water,
With their bright gills swimming beasts
Dance around you in a circle,
Lightly swinging their nimble
Tails to and fro, the flat-nosed,
Ruffle-necked, swift-running puppies,
Music-loving dolphins, who are children
Of Amphitrite and sea-nurslings
Of the Nereids, youthful goddesses;
You ferried me to Cape Taenarum in
The Peloponnese when I was
Awash in the Sicilian sea,
Carrying me on your bulging backs,
Cutting through the furrows of
Nereus’ fields, an untrodden fording,
Since treacherous men had thrown me
From their water-covered hollow ship and
Into the sea-purple swell of the water.
Author’s Note This story is based
on the myth of Arion, a famous Greek musician
who was supposed to have lived around 600
BC. According to one ancient source, the song at
the end was written by Arion himself, although
its style suggests that it was likely composed
several hundred years later. Around AD 150, the
geographer Pausanias, who visited the temple of
Poseidon at Cape Taenarum, said that the statue
of Arion on the dolphin could still be seen. No
one knows where it is now, but the dolphin that
carried Arion to shore? Ovid said that it was
turned into a constellation, Delphinus, and that
you can still see.