Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Amphion.
The gallery
The Farnese Bull
Apollonius of Tralles and Tauriscus of Tralles (Roman copy), c. 2nd century BC (original); Roman marble copy
The colossal Naples group shows Amphion and Zethus binding Dirce to the bull — the twin sons of Zeus and Antiope avenging their mother, Amphion the lyre-builder of Thebes cast as a marble giant.
Amphion Building the Walls of Thebes
Unknown, 16th–17th century
A Rijksmuseum allegory titles the miracle: Amphion's lyre draws the stones into Thebes' walls — 'suaviter et fortiter,' soft music as civic force.
Amphion
Unknown (after Michel de Marolles / Tableaux du temple des Muses), 17th century
From the Temple of the Muses series: Amphion with his lyre — the Theban twin whose music, Hermes-gifted, made masonry follow the tune.
In play
Amphion (son of Zeus and Antiope)
Twin of Zethus, husband of Niobe — the lyre-player who raised Thebes' walls and whose house Apollo and Artemis later emptied.
Amphion and Zethus
The twin founders of Thebes' power — Amphion the musician, Zethus the herdsman — forever paired in the Dirce revenge and the city's stones.