When I was eight, one of my favorite books was Bernard Evslin’s The Dolphin Rider. I’ve forgotten which other myths it contained, although I suspect that Oedipus’ family troubles weren’t among them. The one that I remember is the myth the book was named for, a story that’s stayed with me all my life. That’s the myth I’d like to share first.
If you’ve been following my rotating “Myth o’ the Month” column on Ancient Greece Odyssey, I apologize for repeating myself; I’m going to archive the old entries first before moving on to Herakles’s next labor. However, what follows is not quite the same tale I posted before, because I’m no longer constrained to 2000 characters. Besides, what bard ever tells a story the same way twice?
Note that this is a loose adaptation of the myth; I’m telling the story as I remember it from childhood, and over the years I’ve embellished it here and there.
[Edit: After posting this, I ventured to check Herodotus, and I see that there’s nothing about Ionia in the original version!]
Arion was a youth in Corinth who played the lyre with such skill that many said he was taught by Orpheus, the greatest musician of all. For Arion had the power to charm birds and beasts, and some said the very earth was moved by his wild tunes. Corinthians pointed proudly to local rings of rocks or trees that had gathered around to listen, they said, where he had stopped to play for a while.
One day word came from the harbor that a great music contest was to be held in Ionia across the sea. The prize a bag of silver. Wealth did not draw Arion, but like many young lads he wanted to make a name for himself, the κλέος that was so important to heroes and the poets who sang about them. And where better to win fame than the birthplace of Homer?
His friend Periander, king of Corinth, warned him of sea-travel’s risks. There were no ferries in those days; one booked passage on any ship and hoped. But Arion was eager and adamant. So at last Periander yielded. For how could Corinth not send its best to compete before Homer’s gods?
Lady Brigid, the “exalted one” as your name says, I’m afraid I’m a few days late. Your feast-day’s just past. But I’ll probably be late for my own wake, so let me start Mythprint on Imbolc — or thereabouts — with your blessing.
Caesar called you Minerva, assuming you were the same goddess worshiped under a different name. After the Romans divided Gaul, the Celts used Minerva too, or sometimes Sulis. Caesar said they worshiped you as the goddess of arts and crafts, and that’s true enough. St. Eligius scolded his flock for invoking you to bless their weaving (Mac Cana p. 33). But craft is more than the weaver’s or blacksmith’s art, unless we include word-smiths and song-weavers too. Cormac’s Glossary of Irish lore, written about 1100 years ago, makes you a triple goddess with your two sisters: you inspire bards, and they inspire healers and makers.
On February 1st, one of the four great holidays of the Celtic calendar along with Beltane (May Day), Lammas, Samhain (Hallowe’en), the Celts celebrated your day as a beginning. They looked to the future, sometimes watching for the first hedgehogs to pop out of their burrows as a sign that spring was on its way. Irish Catholics couldn’t bear to let you go and still honor St. Brigid of Kildare, a legendary abbess who conveniently assumed most of your attributes as well as your holiday. In Ireland, she’s still second in popularity only to St. Patrick.
Long ago Kildare had a sanctuary in your honor where a perpetual fire burned, attended by priestesses. The Sisters of St. Brigid of Kildare kept your sacred fire alive in a new church built on your old sanctuary, rechristening your flame as the light of Christianity. The Reformation extinguished that tradition. Now that flame has been rekindled, and women have made pilgrimages there to light candles and carry your flame worldwide. May you continue to inspire poetry, healing, and the arts among all your sisters, whichever name they hail you by: Brigid, Brighid, or Brigit, the triple goddess.
Welcome to Mythprint, a blog for people who love mythology. Have I got a story to tell you! Please, pull up a chair.
This blog is a place to share my love of mythology through original retellings and recordings of my favorite myths. 
I’ll also share related resources such as my photos of Greek art, personal picks for good websites and books of interest to students and lovers of mythology.
I invite you to stop by my other current project, Ancient Greece Odyssey: A Traveller’s Journal, taking you to Greece through my photos, travel diary, and expertise on art, archaeology, and the tales of the ancient world.
Finally, to keep food in the cat’s dish, I must interrupt our sublime contemplation of myth for a commercial break. My cat’s room and board are covered by the commissions I earn from Cafepress, where you can buy my photos and art printed on T-shirts, mugs, and other simple but unique gifts. The one most of you will probably enjoy browsing is my “It’s All Greek to Me!” shop; the banner at right shows you a few samples. Also, many customers like my Yes, I [heart] My Hybrid Car! designs, unique gifts for green car owners.
