Mythology
Dolphins have long played a role in human culture. Dolphins are common in Greek mythology and there are many coins from the time which feature a man or boy riding on the back of a dolphin. The Ancient Greeks treated them with welcome; a ship spotting dolphins riding in their wake was considered a good omen for a smooth voyage. Dolphins also seem to have been important to the Minoans, judging by artistic evidence from the ruined palace at Knossos. In Hindu mythology, the Ganges River Dolphin is associated with Ganga, the deity of the Ganges river.
Therapy
Dolphins are used in animal-assisted therapy, to help with various psychological and neurological problems such as autism, depression, Down syndrome and various development problems, and has shown to be beneficial for the participants.
Military
A number of militaries have employed dolphins for various purposes from finding mines to rescuing lost or trapped humans. Such military dolphins, however, drew scrutiny during the Vietnam War when rumors circulated that dolphins were being trained to kill Vietnamese skin divers. Best known today is the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program.
Literature
Dolphins are also common in contemporary literature, especially science fiction novels. A military role for dolphins is found in William Gibson's short story Johnny Mnemonic, in which cyborg dolphins are used in war-time by the military to find submarines and, after the war, by a group of revolutionaries to decode encrypted information. Dolphins play a role as sentient patrollers of the sea enhanced with a deeper empathy toward humans in Anne McCaffrey's The Dragonriders of Pern series. More humorous is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which dolphins are the second most intelligent creatures on Earth (after mice, and followed by humans) and tried in vain to warn humans of the impending destruction of the planet. However, their behaviour was misinterpreted as playful acrobatics. Their story is told in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. Much more serious is their major role (along with chimpanzees) in David Brin's Uplift series. A talking Dolphin called "Howard" helps Hagbard Celine and his submarine crew fight the evil Illuminati in Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus Trilogy.
Dolphins also appear frequently in non-science fiction literature however. In the book The Music of Dolphins by author Karen Hesse, a girl is raised by dolphins from the age of four until she is discovered by the coast guard. Fantasy author Ken Grimwood wrote dolphins into his 1995 novel Into the Deep about a marine biologist struggling to crack the code of dolphin intelligence, including entire chapters written from the viewpoint of his dolphin characters. In this book, humans and dolphins are capable of communicating via telepathy.
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