Arion- Greek FigureMortal"Inventor of the Dithyramb"
Also known as: Ἀρίων and Ariōn
Description
When sailors conspired to murder the poet Arion and steal his wealth, he asked to sing one final song. Standing in full performance dress on the ship's stern, he sang, leapt into the sea. A dolphin, charmed by his music, carried him to shore.
Mythology & Lore
The Poet of Corinth
Arion was a citharode from Methymna on Lesbos. Herodotus calls him the finest lyre-singer of his time. He lived at the court of Periander, tyrant of Corinth.
The Dolphin
Arion had traveled to Sicily and southern Italy, where his performances earned him great wealth. On the voyage home to Corinth, the sailors plotted to murder him and take his riches. Arion discovered the plot and asked to sing one final song. In Hyginus's version, Apollo had appeared to him in a dream and told him to sing in his performance garb. Standing on the stern, he sang and leapt into the sea.
A dolphin bore him on its back to the promontory of Taenarum in Laconia. He traveled overland to Corinth and reported the crime to Periander. The tyrant kept Arion hidden. When the ship arrived, the sailors told Periander that Arion was safe in Italy. Periander brought the poet out. The sailors confessed.
Herodotus adds that a small bronze statue of a man on a dolphin stood at Taenarum. Ovid, in the Fasti, says the dolphin was placed among the stars as the constellation Delphinus.