AMPHION (mythical musician and ruler at Thebes)

Hermes gave Amphion a lyre, and later a harp as a reward for building an altar, which Myro says was the first dedicated to Hermes.^5,13 He practiced minstrelsy because of this gift, and his musical performances caused stones and animals to follow him.^5,2,14 Using the music of his song, harp, lyre, or shell, he moved heavy stones into place and constructed a triple wall around a person.^6,15 An Egyptian man described him as a skilled magician who used enchantments to move stones for building, and claimed he gave Pelops an item that frightened mares.¹⁰ He added three strings to the existing four strings of the harp and invented the Lydian musical measures.^16,17 He learned the Lydian musical mode directly from the Lydians, a connection explained by his relationship to Tantalus.¹⁶

Amphion and his brother fortified Thebes using stones moved by his lyre, though Homer’s poetry does not mention the wall being built by his harp’s music.^5,18,16 Homer states that Amphion and Zethus were the first founders of Thebes, and Amphion is likewise described as one of the first founders of the city.¹⁹ Amphion killed Lycus to avenge his mother Antiope, and tied Dirce to a bull, throwing her body into a spring.⁵ He commanded the Epean warriors during the battle, demonstrating his role as a military leader.^20,3

Amphion married Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, and Pelops brought Boeotian colonists when marrying his sister Niob to Amphion.^21,22 They had seven sons, including Sipylus and Eupinytus, and seven daughters, including Ethodaia and Cleodoxa, though Hesiod claims they had ten sons.^21,23 Amphion’s sons were struck down by arrows while practicing horseback riding and wrestling, leaving his house desolate by a plague.^24,25 Chloris, the sole surviving daughter of Amphion's house, won a victory at the Heraea, and one brother of hers also survived.^26,9,27 The children of Amphion were cremated on a pyre near their graves, with males and females buried separately at Thebes.^28,29

People from Tithorea steal soil from Amphion's tomb during a specific solar alignment, which the Thebans guard to prevent.¹² Roughly quarried stones are laid along the base of his tomb, and he is credited with inventing music and associated with a story similar to Orpheus's harp-playing.^14,17 After the loss of his family, Amphion ended his own life by stabbing himself in the chest with a sword.³⁰ He gained fame for his musical abilities, having been described as the first person to play the harp.^16,31,13