Few maritime animals were, as much as dolphins(dauphins), bound(connected) to the life of the human beings. The former(ancient) Greeks, peoples of the sea, were, from the times the most put off, attracted(enticed) by these singular animals which played and jumped up outside the water around their boats, and which also pointed out by the ease with which they exceeded the fastest vessels. The myths and the fables relative to dolphin(dauphin) are very numerous: he(it) is already mentioned by Homère « as king of the sea and Lord of fishes. The former(ancient) authors indicated the disorder(affection) which he(it) carries(wears) to the man in any occasion, going as far as saving castaways' life by returning them to earth(ground). Besides, numerous are the quotations which show dolphin(dauphin) being gladly allowed ride by young men. Thétis herself(itself) used one of these Cetaceans as frame. One of the examples most usually quoted is that of Arion the first singer and the player of zither of his(her,its) time. Ghost of Sicily where he(it) had gained(won), by his(its) art, big wealth, he(it) embarked to Tarente aboard a vessel which had to lead(drive) him(it) in Corinth. But the crew decided, once in sea, to murder the musician to seize its fortune. Arion obtained however the favour to sing last time before being thrown(cast) in streams, what was made. But dolphin(dauphin), who had been attracted(enticed) and charmed by the melodious accents of the singer, collected(took in) him(it) and carried(wore) him(it) safe until the cap Matapan (Ténare), where a monument immortalized the event, where we place in the XXIXth Olympiad, is towards 620 before the Christian era.

It is also dolphin(dauphin) who saved(arranged) the marriage of Amphitrite and Poséidon, who, to mark his gratitude, installed(settled) the "intermediary" in the firmament, in the form of the constellation of the Dauphin, close to the Eagle. And it is another dolphin(dauphin) who carried(wore) Apollon ( Apollo Delphinius) and his(her) son Icadius up to the rib(coast) close to Parnasse, where was exactly set up the temple of Delphes .Pour all these reasons, arrest of dolphins(dauphins) « displeased the gods », and the Greek fishermen left them in peace. Only Thrace hunted(chased away) them, what belonged in abomination to the peoples of Hellas. Nevertheless the by-products of dolphins(dauphins) were possibly used in medicine: his(her,its) fat, in the treatment of the hydropisie; these ashes, against certain skin diseases; the liver, to fight(dispute) the fevers. Dolphin(Dauphin) was so familiar to the former(ancient) peoples whom he represented on numerous currencies of Abydos, Egine, Argos, Métaponte, Posidonie, Tarente and Rome, where the animal was represented, most of the time, accompanied with an anchor, so symbolizing the Roman ascendancy on nostrum puddle. The current Italian 5-lira detail(room) maintains this tradition and shows dolphin(dauphin) of a remarkable purity of lines.

Bit by bit, the real silhouette of dolphin(dauphin) deteriorated to take the shape under which we see her(it) very often: body by-passed in vine, excessively prominent forehead(front), fins provided with beams(shelves) as those of a fish and even sometimes indication of scales and with an opercule. Nevertheless, the former(ancient) knew perfectly that dolphin(dauphin) was not a fish, but indeed a Mammal, that it was « close to whales », that he(it) inhaled the air(sight) in kind by means of a évent communicating with lungs, that he(it) reproduced by coupling up, etc. Later, dolphin(dauphin) became the emblem of the Christ and the rallying symbol of the first Christians. It is probably as such that it was its entrance(entry) to the heraldry; he(it) took there at once a dominating place placing him(it) in the first row(rank) of "fishes" (that is maritime animals), as the eagle dominates birds and lion quadrupeds.

Heraldic dolphin(dauphin) is particularly spread in England, where he appears in the weapons of numerous families of very ancient(former) nobility. In France, two dolphins(dauphins) especially of Auvergne, "been overcome", that is of a single enamel, and dolphin(dauphin) of the Viennese, or Dauphiné, « of azure, lit(switched on), loré and pautré by mouths » (in other words, he(it) is blue, while his(its) eye, his(its) fins and his(its) tail are red. He can seem singular that provinces so remote from the sea, "so landed" as Auvergne and Dauphiné refer to a purely maritime animal. The origin of the weapons of Dauphiné explains as follows. Among the main saints quoted by Giry (Manuel of diplomatic) represents certain Delphinus, bishop of Bordeaux, died towards 404. Delphin, or Dauphin, was probably a first name carried(worn) by the first counts of Albon and Vienna; He(It) remained until our days in the form of patronymic (rather rare however) and, in the feminine, as first name essentially in the last century: Delphine Gay de Girardin, Delphine de Mme of Staël, etc.