Arion
an ancient Greek poet and musician, born at Methymna, in Lesbos, flourished about B. c. 625. He lived at the court of Periander of Corinth, and afterward visited Sicily and Italy. Returning from Tarentum to Corinth with rich treasures, the avaricious sailors resolved to murder him. Apollo, however, having informed him in a dream of the impending danger, Arion in vain endeavored to soften the hearts of the crew by the power of his music. He then threw himself into the sea, when one of a shoal of dolphins, which had been attracted by his music, received him on his back and bore him to land. The sailors having returned to Corinth, were confronted by Arion, and convicted of their crime. The lyre of Arion, and the dolphin which rescued him, became constellations in the heavens. A fragment of a hymn to Poseidon, ascribed to Arion, is extant.