Ἀρίων

Arion

Translated by Tony Natoli7 Dec 2000Vetting: high12 revisions

8 notes · 85 words

Of Methymna,¹ a lyric poet, son of Kykleus.² He was born in the 38th Olympiad.³ Certain people recorded that he was even a pupil of Alkman.⁴ He composed songs: [namely] preludes in 2000 verses.⁵ It is claimed also that he was the inventor of the tragic style and that he was the first to establish a chorus,⁶ to sing a dithyramb, to provide a name for what the chorus sang⁷ and to introduce satyrs speaking in verse.
[The name] retains [omega] also in the genitive.⁸

Greek original · Adler’s text

Ἀρίων, Μηθυμναῖος, λυρικὸς, Κυκλέως υἱὸς, γέγονε κατὰ τὴν ληʹ Ὀλυμπιάδα. τινὲς δὲ καὶ μαθητὴν Ἀλκμᾶνος ἱστόρησαν αὐτόν. ἔγραψε δὲ ᾄσματα· προοίμια εἰς ἔπη ʹ22βʹ. λέγεται καὶ τραγικοῦ τρόπου εὑρετὴς γενέσθαι καὶ πρῶτος χορὸν στῆσαι καὶ διθύραμβον ᾆσαι καὶ ὀνομάσαι τὸ ᾀδόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ χοροῦ καὶ Σατύρους εἰσενεγκεῖν ἔμμετρα λέγοντας. φυλάττει δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ γενικῆς

Betacode

*)ari/wn, *mhqumnai=os, luriko\s, *kukle/ws ui(o\s, ge/gone kata\ th\n lh# *)olumpia/da. tine\s de\ kai\ maqhth\n *)alkma=nos i(sto/rhsan au)to/n. e)/graye de\ a)/|smata: prooi/mia ei)s e)/ph #22b#. le/getai kai\ tragikou= tro/pou eu(reth\s gene/sqai kai\ prw=tos xoro\n sth=sai kai\ diqu/rambon a)=|sai kai\ o)noma/sai to\ a)|do/menon u(po\ tou= xorou= kai\ *satu/rous ei)senegkei=n e)/mmetra le/gontas. fula/ttei de\ kai\ e)pi\ genikh=s

Notes (8)

See generally Richard Seaford in OCD(3) 158 [now OCD(4) 152], under Arion [Author, Myth](2).
1On the E. Aegean island of Lesbos; cf. mu 898. ↩
2cf. kappa 2643. ↩
3628-625 BCE. The words have also been interpreted to mean that "he flourished in the 38th Olympiad." ↩
4For whom see alpha 1289, alpha 1290. ↩
5Adler's '2' verses is corrected in her addenda and corrigenda ↩
6Literally, "to set up a chorus". Pickard-Cambridge [p.97] translates "first composed a stationary chorus" and he notes on p.11 that "in late authors it means to 'make a chorus sing a stasimon'." ↩
7Compare Herodotus 1.23 [web address 1]: Arion "was the first man we know to have composed the dithyramb and given it a name." According to Pickard-Cambridge [p.12 cf. Campbell pp. 11-12] the implication is that Arion made the chorus sing "a regular poem, with a definite subject from which it took its name," and not that Arion invented the name "dithyramb". ↩
8The object 'omega' is an early editorial supplement omitted by Adler but incorporated by Bekker. The Suda frequently uses fula/ttei by itself to mean "keeps omega in the oblique cases." ↩

References

D.A. Campbell, Greek Lyric [LCL] v.3, pp. 1-2, 16-25
O. Crusius , "Arion 5" in RE 2.1, cols.836-841
A.W. Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy, 2nd ed. rev. T.B.L. Webster. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962, pp.10-12, 97-101

External resources

Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu

Linked from4 entries

Neighbouring entries

α3884ἈρίμηνονArimenon, Ariminum α3885ἈριοβαρζάνηςAriobarzanes α3886ἈρίωνArion α3887Ἀριπρεπήςclear, bright; famous, stately α3888Ἄριςnose-less

Revision history12 revisions · last 26 Oct 2015

26 Oct 2015expanded note — Catharine Roth
2 Jan 2015coding, deleted link — Catharine Roth
24 Jan 2014tweaked tr; another note — David Whitehead
24 Jan 2014my typo — David Whitehead
12 Apr 2012another keyword; cosmetics; raised status — David Whitehead
14 Oct 2005Added keyword; cosmetics — Elizabeth Vandiver
20 Dec 2002added keyword — David Whitehead
20 Dec 2001simplified link — Catharine Roth
20 Dec 2001Corrected typo in notes. — Tony Natoli
20 Dec 2001added link — Catharine Roth
20 Dec 2001cosmetics — Catharine Roth
13 Jun 2001augmented notes; cosmetics — David Whitehead
7 Dec 2000Translated — Tony Natoli

Translation