Arion
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Arion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant
A musician riding a dolphin, on a Red-figure stamnos (360–340 BC) from Etruria. In this case the musician is an aulete rather than a kitharode, as he is playing the flute (aulos) rather than a kithara.
Arion riding a Dolphin, by Albrecht Dürer (c. 1514)
Arion on a Sea Horse, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1855)
Arion on the Dolphin, by François Boucher (1748) Princeton University Art Museum
Dithyramb
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The dithyramb was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in The Laws, while discussing vario
Arion
…Arion (; Ancient Greek: Ἀρίων) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Although notable for his musical…
Attic relief (4th century BCE) depicting an aulos player and his family standing before Dionysos and a female consort, with theatrical masks displayed above