Melanthus
1. One of the Tyrrhenian pirates, who wanted to carry off young Bacchus, but were metamorphosed into dolphins. (Metamorphoses by Ovid iii. 671, &c.)
2. One of the sons of Laocoon. (Serv. ad Aen. ii. 211.)
3, In Lycophron the name occurs as a surname of Poseidon.
From Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and MythologyFrom Metamorphoses by Ovid. The Mariners transform'd to Dolphins
Thus all my crew transform'd around the ship,
Or dive below, or on the surface leap,
And spout the waves, and wanton in the deep.
Full nineteen sailors did the ship convey,
A shole of nineteen dolphins round her play.
I only in my proper shape appear,
Speechless with wonder, and half dead with fear,
'Till Bacchus kindly bid me fear no more.
With him I landed on the Chian shore,
And him shall ever gratefully adore."
