No connection with Arion except he shares the same name and father. Which is quite a connection really, as his father is Poseidon, who had a fling with Oneaea, one of the sea Nymphs.

He grew up to embrace stardom as a musician with his amazing cithara-playing. (What is a cithara, you ask? It’s a musical instrument, of course!) He was the nearest thing to a pop star and played to large audiences at festivals.

Returning from a gig in Sicily loaded with riches, the crew decided to rob him. He offered to give them all his goodies, but they wanted to kill him anyway. They couldn’t take the chance he might talk. So he asked if he could sing instead — a final song.

This was granted, so he stood on the prow of the ship with his cithara... then suddenly jumped into the sea. He preferred suicide to murder. But he even had fans in the sea and some dolphins saved him.

Unobserved by the crew, who were busy sharing out the spoils, he was given a speedy lift home. He reached port before the ship — and did the pirates get a surprise. A deadly one.

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Article last revised on September 06, 2018 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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