DOLPHIN. - The ancients considered this cetacean an ally of man; they believed that by following ships and taking refuge in harbors as storms approached, it warned sailors of impending danger.
It was frequently depicted in both public and funerary monuments (sarcophagi, inscriptions), as well as in household objects (lamps, etc.). It appears both alone and paired, often entwined with a trident or depicted in groups leaping over the waves. Sometimes it served as a decorative element or as a symbol of the transmigration of souls to the islands of the blessed, or simply as an emblem of the upper waters (F. CUMONT, *Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des Romains*, Paris 1942, p. 130). Early Christians frequently portrayed the dolphin in funerary inscriptions, in some cases using it with the same symbolism as the fish (v.). It also appears often on lamps or lamp-holders, rings, and seals, for example with the inscription *spes in Deo* (G. B. De Rossi, *Bull. d'arch. crist.*, 3rd ser., 4 [1879], pl. 9, 2).