Two questions,
awhile back an internet
auction had a "coin" (bronze) with a
dolphin and rider on one
side, but instead of riding on top of the
dolphin, the individual was holding on to the dorsal fin, and swimming along, like one might really do for a rescue by a
dolphin.
The
reverse was a
Hippocamp.
Has anyone ever seen this
dolphin and swimmer
type before? it was marked as Tarentum, but I kind of doubt it.
Second, why do they call it a "pod" of dolphins? dolphins don't have feet!
The Tarentum
dolphin riders always look neat, but I particularly like the Archaic dolphins from the
Cyclades.
I wonder if the giant
eagle on top of the
Istros dolphin was where the 1001 Nights got the idea for the Roc. btw,
part of the importance of 1001 Nights (Shehardaze) is that while they were originally pagan stories, they are written in the same Classical Arabic that the Koran is written in, and therefore, they are important philologically for understanding the Koran. Remember that, next time you watch Sinbad or Alladin with your kids.