1. 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 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, 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.
1. ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ: Εὖ γε, ὦ Δελφῖνες, ὅτι ἀεὶ φιλάνθρωποί ἐστε, καὶ πάλαι μὲν τὸ τῆς Ἰνοῦς παιδίον ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ἐκομίσατε ὑποδεξάμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν Σκειρωνίδων μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἐμπεσόν, καὶ νῦν σὺ τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν τουτονὶ τὸν ἐκ Μηθύμνης ἀναλαβὼν ἐξενήξω ἐς Ταίναρον αὐτῇ σκευῇ καὶ κιθάρᾳ, οὐδὲ περιεῖδες κακῶς ὑπὸ τῶν ναυτῶν ἀπολλύμενον. ΔΕΛΦΙΝΕΣ: Μὴ θαυμάσῃς, ὦ Πόσειδον, εἰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εὖ ποιοῦμεν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γε καὶ αὐτοὶ ἰχθύες γενόμενοι. Καὶ μέμφομαί γε τῷ Διονύσῳ, ὅτι ἡμᾶς καταναυμαχήσας καὶ μετέβαλε, δέον χειρώσασθαι μόνον, ὥσπερ τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπηγάγετο.
POSEIDON: But what’s the true story about Arion, my dear dolphin?
ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ: Πῶς δ’ οὖν τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἀρίονα τοῦτον ἐγένετο, ὦ Δελφίν;
2. 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.
2. ΔΕΛΦΙΝΕΣ: Ὁ Περίανδρος, οἶμαι, ἔχαιρεν αὐτῷ καὶ πολλάκις μετεπέμπετο αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ τέχνῃ, ὁ δὲ πλουτήσας παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου ἐπεθύμησεν πλεύσας οἴκαδε εἰς τὴν Μήθυμναν ἐπιδείξασθαι τὸν πλοῦτον, καὶ ἐπιβὰς πορθμείου τινὸς κακούργων ἀνδρῶν ὡς ἔδειξεν πολὺν ἄγων χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, ἐπεὶ κατὰ μέσον τὸ Αἰγαῖον ἐγένετο, ἐπιβουλεύουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ ναῦται· ὁ δὲ—ἠκροώμην γὰρ ἅπαντα παρανέων τῷ σκάφει—Ἐπεὶ ταῦτα ὑμῖν δέδοκται, ἔφη, ἀλλὰ τὴν σκευὴν ἀναλαβόντα με καὶ ᾄσαντα θρῆνόν τινα ἐπ' ἐμαυτῷ ἑκόντα ἐάσατε ῥῖψαι ἐμαυτόν. ἐπέτρεψαν οἱ ναῦται καὶ ἀνέλαβε τὴν σκευὴν καὶ ᾖσε πάνυ λιγυρόν, καὶ ἔπεσεν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ὡς αὐτίκα πάντως ἀποθανούμενος· ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπολαβὼν καὶ ἀναθέμενος αὐτὸν ἐξενηξάμην ἔχων εἰς Ταίναρον. ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ: Ἐπαινῶ σε τῆς φιλομουσίας· ἄξιον γὰρ τὸν μισθὸν ἀπέδωκας αὐτῷ τῆς ἀκροάσεως.