Characters
- Artemis — dolphin on the ship; then youth; founder of Delphinios cult and Pytho priesthood
- Cretan sailors — first priests of Delphi
- People of Crisa — will bring sheep for the priests’ livelihood
Places
- Crete — sailors’ home
- Crisa — landing; altar of Apollo Delphinios
- Pytho — inland temple they must serve
- Ship bound for Pylos — diverted by the god
Themes
Narrative
After slaying the serpent and renaming the place Pytho, Apollo considers who shall serve him. He sees a ship of Cretans from Knossos sailing toward Pylos for trade; taking the shape of a dolphin he springs aboard. The sailors cannot shake him off; the ship will not obey; a wind drives them past the Peloponnese to Crisa. There Apollo appears as a youth and reveals himself; he bids them build an altar on the beach to Apollo Delphinios (from the dolphin form), feast, and then follow him inland singing the *Ie Paean* to Pytho, where they shall keep his rich temple as its first priests—though they must live by the sheep the people bring, for the soil is not for ordinary farming.
The episode aetiologizes Delphinios and the Cretan origin of Delphic priesthood. Catalogue it apart from the Python combat and from Telphusa’s deceit.