page_title: Arion
hierarchical_section_title: Arion
caption_attribution_description: Albrecht Dürer &#160;(1471&#8211;1528)&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Alternative names Albrecht DürerDescriptionGerman painter, engraver, mathematician, illuminator, copperplate engraver and art theoristDate of birth/death 21 May 1471&#160; 6 April 1528&#160;Location of birth/death Nuremberg NurembergWork location Nuremberg (1484–1490), Basel (1490–1494), Strasbourg (1490–1494), Colmar (1490–1494), Frankfurt am Main (1490–1494), Mainz (1490–1494), Cologne (1490–1494), Nuremberg (21 May 1494–1528), Innsbruck (1494), Venice (1494–1495), 1505–1506), Bologna (1505–1506), Milan (1505–1506), Florence (1505–1506), Rome (1505–1506), Augsburg (1518), Antwerp (1521)Authority control : Q5580 VIAF:&#8201;54146999 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2096 1368 ULAN:&#8201;500115493 LCCN:&#8201;n79118011 NLA:&#8201;35051029 WorldCat creator QS:P170,Q5580 English: Albrecht Dürer, Riding a Dolphin, watercolor, circa. 1514 In this Albrecht Dürer’s 1514 watercolor, Arion is seen riding a dolphin with tusks.
context_page_description: Arion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," 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 inventions, Arion is chiefly remembered for the fantastic myth of his kidnapping by pirates and miraculous rescue by dolphins, a folktale motif.
  Herodotus says "Arion was second to none of the lyre-players in his time and was also the first man we know of to compose and name the dithyramb and teach it in Corinth". However J.H. Sleeman observes of the dithyramb, or circular chorus, "It is first mentioned by Archilochus … Arion flourished at least 50 years later … probably gave it a more artistic form, adding a chorus of 50 people, personating satyrs… who danced around an altar of Dionysus. He was doubtless the first to introduce the dithyramb into Corinth".
context_section_description: Arion (/əˈraɪən/; Greek: Ἀρίων) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," 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 inventions, Arion is chiefly remembered for the fantastic myth of his kidnapping by pirates and miraculous rescue by dolphins, a folktale motif.
  Herodotus (1.23) says "Arion was second to none of the lyre-players in his time and was also the first man we know of to compose and name the dithyramb and teach it in Corinth". However J.H. Sleeman observes of the dithyramb, or circular chorus, "It is first mentioned by Archilochus (c 665 BC) … Arion flourished at least 50 years later … probably gave it a more artistic form, adding a chorus of 50 people, personating satyrs… who danced around an altar of Dionysus. He was doubtless the first to introduce the dithyramb into Corinth". Armand D'Angour notes that Arion's contribution to the reform of the dithyramb, which was eventually performed in a circle and called kuklios choros, was recognised by ancient sources by the fact that they named his father 'Kukleus' ('Circle-man').
  Arion is also associated with the origins of tragedy: of Solon John the Deacon reports: “Arion of Methymna first introduced the drama [i.e. action] of tragedy, as Solon indicated in his poem entitled Elegies".
caption: Arion riding a Dolphin, by Albrecht Dürer circa. 1514
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