The dolphin of Dioniso
The divine Dioniso, the son of Zeus and Semele, who once
discovered how to turn grapes into wine, was one day
kidnapped by pirates.
He was seen on the beach dressed
up really nice and the pirates, thinking he was a prince,
kidnapped him for ransom and tied him to a tree on their
ship.
Suddenly a spring of wine gushed on the ship’s
deck a vine grew on the tree, and its shoots wrapped the
whole ship. As a result, the god released himself from the
ties,turned himself into a lion, and the scared seamen
jumped in the water and turned into dolphins.
Since
then, the dolphins are friends of the god and their image
is depicted on the wine goblets, on the vases, and on the
floors where men would meet to drink together.
Also in the sanctuary of Ercole and Mefite, there was a banquet hall with a floor that depicted four dolphins jumping through waves, reminding those who would drink wine there that the nectar was a creation of the Dionis’s son.
