Arion Arion 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 (1.23) says "Arion was second to none of the lyre-players in his time and was also the first man we
Arion sound like "historia" rather than "fabulae", though he misremembered that Augustine had taken the Arion story to be historical. From what is told in ancient Greek scripts, Arion, although favored by Apollo, is the son of Poseidon and Ino. The episode may be seen as a doublet of the fate of Melicertes, where the leap into the sea was that of his mother, Ino. transformed into the "white goddess" Leucothea; Melicertes was carried more dead than alive to the shores where the Isthmian Games were celebrated in his honour, as he was transformed to the hero Palaimon, who was placated