I’m no expert in Greek mythology,

but to me

the color blue came to be

through a calamitous story

between Poseidon, god of water, and Athena, goddess of wisdom.

Poseidon had three favorite dolphins in his underwater palace—

they are his guards

his friends

his only.

He would climb onto their backs

— murmur lullabies into their ears—

He would take them to Olympus

— invite them to attend meetings of the gods —

He would allow them to play the game of catch with his trident.

The blood of the three dolphins is blue.

They are the only dolphins with blue blood.

One day,

When the dolphins are playing catch with Poseidon’s trident—

Poseidon underestimated the force of the throw.

The trident slipped out of his hands.

Each of the spears pierced through the dolphins.

Their blood oozed out,

dying the spears blue.

Poseidon tried climbing on their backs and whispering their favorite tunes.

He tried giving his own blood to the dolphins.

But

The dolphins are mortals—

Poseidon couldn’t understand mortal things.

So, he wept for weeks,

Refusing to leave their sides.

That is why blue represents sadness

—the feeling of void and emptiness—

the fusion of Poseidon’s tears and the Dolphins’ blood.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom,

felt pity for him.

So, she did two things:

She collected blue blood from the dead dolphins

tears from Poseidon,

and colored the ocean.

That is why blue is the ocean.

She also added human emotions to the color blue,

something abstract—

perhaps it was empathy,

perhaps it was wisdom,

perhaps it was love.

Regardless,

she completed the puzzle by finishing the last piece.

and

that is how the color blue came to life.