Editing Dolphin (section)

===In history and religion===
[[File:Akrotiri dolphins.jpg|thumb|Fresco of dolphins, c. 1600 BC, from [[Knossos]], [[Crete]]]]
[[File:Silver stater from Tarentum from 290-280 BC.jpg|thumb|Silver stater from [[Taranto|Tarentum]] c. 290 BC showing Phalanthos riding a dolphin on one side and a rider with a shield decorated with a dolphin on the other side]]
[[File:Vessel in form of killer whale - Nazca pottery in the American Museum of Natural History - DSC06105.JPG|thumb|Vessel in form of [[orca]], [[Nazca culture]], circa 200 AD. [[American Museum of Natural History]] collections.]]
Dolphins have long played a role in human culture.

In [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]], dolphins were seen invariably as helpers of humankind. Dolphins also seem to have been important to the [[Minoans]], judging by artistic evidence from the ruined palace at [[Knossos]]. During the 2009 excavations of a major [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] city at [[Iklaina]], a striking fragment of a wall painting came to light, depicting a ship with three human figures and dolphins. Dolphins are common in [[Greek mythology]], and many coins from [[ancient Greece]] have been found which feature a man, a boy or a deity riding on the back of a dolphin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac50tar.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208015112/http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac50tar.html |archive-date=February 8, 2007 |title=Taras |access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref> The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] welcomed dolphins; spotting dolphins riding in a ship's wake was considered a good omen.<ref name="Eyers2012">{{cite book|last=Eyers|first=Jonathan|title=Don't Shoot the Albatross!: Nautical Myths and Superstitions|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=b0fM9aimdooC}}|date=December 3, 2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4081-3213-5}}</ref> In both ancient and later art, [[Cupid]] is often shown [[Cupid#Cupid and dolphins|riding a dolphin]]. [[Delphinus|A dolphin]] rescued the poet [[Arion]] from drowning and carried him safe to land, at [[Cape Matapan]], a promontory forming the southernmost point of the [[Peloponnesus]]. There was a temple to [[Poseidon]] and a statue of Arion riding the dolphin.<ref>[[Herodotus]] I.23; [[Thucydides]] I.128, 133; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] iii.25, 4</ref>

The Greeks reimagined the [[Phoenicia]]n god [[Melqart]] as Melikertês ([[Melicertes]]) and made him the son of [[Athamas]] and [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]]. He drowned but was transfigured as the marine deity Palaemon, while his mother became [[Leucothea]]. (''cf'' [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]].) At Corinth, he was so closely connected with the cult of Poseidon that the [[Isthmian Games]], originally instituted in Poseidon's honor, came to be looked upon as the funeral games of [[Melicertes]]. [[Phalanthus of Tarentum|Phalanthus]] was another legendary character brought safely to shore (in Italy) on the back of a dolphin, according to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]].

[[Dionysus]] was once captured by [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] [[pirate]]s who mistook him for a wealthy prince they could ransom. After the ship set sail Dionysus invoked his divine powers, causing vines to overgrow the ship where the mast and sails had been. He turned the oars into serpents, so terrifying the sailors that they jumped overboard, but Dionysus took pity on them and [[shapeshifting|transformed]] them into dolphins so that they would spend their lives providing help for those in need. Dolphins were also the messengers of Poseidon and sometimes did errands for him as well. Dolphins were sacred to both [[Aphrodite]] and [[Apollo]].

"Dolfin" was the name of an aristocratic family in the maritime [[Republic of Venice]], whose most prominent member was the 13th-century [[Doge of Venice|Doge]] [[Giovanni Dolfin]].

In [[Hindu mythology]] the [[Ganges river dolphin]] is associated with [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]], the deity of the [[Ganges]] river. The dolphin is said to be among the creatures which heralded the goddess' descent from the heavens and her mount, the [[Makara (Hindu mythology)|Makara]], is sometimes depicted as a dolphin.<ref name="Singh1997">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Vijay |title=The River Goddess|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VKEKAAAACAAJ}}|year=1997|publisher=Creative Education|isbn=978-0-88682-825-7}}</ref>

The [[Boto]], a species of [[river dolphin]] that resides in the [[Amazon River]], are believed to be shapeshifters, or ''[[Encantado (mythology)|encantado]]s'', who are capable of having children with human women.

There are comparatively few surviving myths of dolphins in [[Polynesia]]n cultures, in spite of their maritime traditions and reverence of other marine animals such as [[sharks]] and [[seabirds]]; unlike these, they are more often perceived as food than as totemic symbols. Dolphins are most clearly represented in [[Rapa Nui]] [[Rongorongo]], and in the traditions of the [[Caroline Islands]] they are depicted similarly to the Boto, being sexually active shapeshifters.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cressey |first1=Jason |title=Making a Splash in the Pacific: Dolphin and Whale Myths and Legends of Oceania |url=http://islandheritage.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/RNJ_12_3_Cressey.pdf |website=islandheritage.org |publisher=The POD-People, Oceans, Dolphins (Vancouver, Canada) |access-date=October 19, 2018 |date=September 1998 |archive-date=November 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120050556/http://islandheritage.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/RNJ_12_3_Cressey.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Heraldry====
{{main|Dolphin (heraldry)}}
[[File:Dauphin of Viennois Arms.svg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the [[Dauphiné]], France, featuring a stylised heraldic dolphin]]
Dolphins are also used as symbols, for instance in heraldry. When heraldry developed in the [[Middle Ages]], little was known about the biology of the dolphin and it was often depicted as a sort of fish. The [[Dolphin (heraldry)|stylised heraldic dolphin]] still conventionally follows this tradition, sometimes showing the dolphin skin covered with [[fish scale]]s.

A well-known historical example was the coat of arms of the former province of the [[Dauphiné]] in southern France, from which were derived the arms and the title of the [[Dauphin of France]], the heir to the former throne of France (the title literally meaning "The Dolphin of France").

Dolphins are present in the [[coat of arms of Anguilla]] and the [[coat of arms of Romania]],<ref name="Hentea2007">{{cite book|last=Hentea|first=Călin|title=Brief Romanian Military History|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lwcWDFZWuJgC}}|year=2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5820-6}}</ref> and the [[coat of arms of Barbados]] has a dolphin [[supporter]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Barbados: Just Beyond Your Imagination|last=Ali|first=Arif|year=1996|page=16|isbn=978-1-870518-54-3|publisher=Hansib Publications|location=Hertford, UK}}</ref><ref name="Ali1996">{{cite book|last=Ali|first=Arif|title=Barbados: Just Beyond Your Imagination|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=0k8sAQAAMAAJ|page=16}}|year=1996|page=16|publisher=Hansib|isbn=978-1-870518-54-3}}</ref>

The [[Coat of arms of Poole|coat of arms of the town of Poole]], Dorset, England, first recorded in 1563, includes a dolphin, which was historically depicted in stylised heraldic form, but which since 1976 has been depicted naturalistically.<ref>''Description of the coat of arms'', Borough of Poole information sheet, undated</ref>