A Dolphin's Tale

Perhaps Shakespeare was offering the name as a delicate compliment to the Italian guest. … fell and cruel hounds The Duke is apparently hopelessly in love with Olivia, a rich noblewoman of Illyria, and cannot be diverted from his sentimental melancholy. When it is suggested that he hunt the hart (that is, stag) he breaks into a self-pitying play upon the word, saying that when he saw Olivia: That instant was I turned into a hart, And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E'er since pursue me.   —Act I, scene i, lines 22-24 This is a reference to the tale of Actaeon (see page I-406), who was turned into a stag by the angry Diana and was then killed by his own hounds. … like Anon. .. Meanwhile, on the Illyrian seacoast, Viola, a young lady, appears. With her are a ship's captain and his sailors. They have just survived a wreck in which the girl's twin brother has apparently been lost. Viola is heartsick over her brother's death, but the Captain says he saw her brother tie himself To a strong mast that lived upon the sea; Where, like Arion on the dolphin's back, I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves So long as I could see.   —Act I, scene ii, lines 14-17 Arion is a character out of Greek legend ...»