Amphion
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Amphion. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
am-fi'un, in Greek mythology, a son of Zeus, and husband of Niobe. He was a famous musician. It was said that when he built the wall of Thebes, the stones moved voluntarily into place to the music of his lyre. So Apollo was said to have built Troy to music. Tennyson borrowed this idea in Idylls of the King , where he represents the "shadowy Camelot" as having been built to music. Tennyson has also written a poem entitled Amphion, in which he treats the story of his musical power humorously: O had I lived when song was great In days of old Amphion And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, Nor cared for seed or scion! And had I lived when song was great, And legs of trees were limber, And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, And fiddled in the timber! 'Tis said he had a tuneful tongue, Such happy intonation, Wherever he sat down and sung He left a small plantation; Wherever in a lonely grove He set up his forlorn pipes, The gouty oak began to move, And flounder into hornpipes.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Arachne. Son of Jupiter and Antiope. He cultivated poetry, and made such progress in music that he is said to have been the inven- See page 36. 2026 Editor's Note: In Greek mythology, Amphion was a son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Antiope who became a legendary king of Thebes. While the text notes his musical skill, later accounts specify that he used this magic to build the walls of Thebes by charming stones into place with his lyre. He eventually married Niobe and is said to have committed suicide following the tragic death of his children at the hands of Apollo and Artemis. (Ed: BR 2026-06-28)