Ancient Greek mythological figure, son of Zeus and Antiope. When he and his twin brother Zethus built the walls of Thebes (Homer, Odyssey, xi.260–65), the stones set themselves in place through the power of his lyre (Hesiod, frag.96, ed. Evelyn-White). According to Pausanias (ix.5.8), Hesiod's near contemporary Eumelus of Corinth called Amphion the first lyre player, taught by Hermes; late sources made further claims typical of the feats credited to Orpheus, Marsyas and other names in the pre-history of Greek music. To Virgil Amphion was simply a pastoral singer (Eclogues, ii.23–4); Horace mentioned the miraculous power of Amphion's singing (Odes, iii.1–3, invocations to Mercury and the lyre).
G. Wille: Musica romana (Amsterdam, 1967), 551ff
S. Michaelides: ‘Amphion’, The Music of Ancient Greece: an Encyclopaedia (London, 1978)
WARREN ANDERSON/THOMAS J. MATHIESEN