Introduction
Amphion is a son of Zeus and Antiope, twin brother of Zethus, and, with him, a co-founder and co-ruler of Thebes, best remembered for the magical, musical power by which he helped build the city's famous walls.
Family
- Father: Zeus
- Mother: Antiope
- Siblings: Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Perseus, Heracles, Arcas, Epaphus, Aeacus, Dardanus, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon, Pollux (Polydeuces), Helen, Zethus
A musician's gift
Taught to play the lyre by Hermes himself, Amphion possessed music of such extraordinary, moving power that, when the twin brothers set about fortifying Thebes with a great wall, the stones themselves, charmed by his playing, rose and fitted into place of their own accord, while his more physically powerful brother Zethus hauled and set stones by brute strength alone.
Marriage and downfall
Amphion married Niobe, whose fatal boast against the goddess Leto (comparing her own numerous children favourably to Leto's two) led Apollo and Artemis to kill all of Niobe and Amphion's children in retribution, a tragedy that, in most versions, drove Amphion to suicide in his grief.