Lyre (The)
.That of Terpander and Olympus had only three strings; the Scythian lyre had five; that of Simonidēs had eight; and that of Timotheus (3 syl.) had twelve. It was played either with the fingers or with a plectrum. The lyre is called by poets a “shell,” because the cords of the lyre used by Orpheus (2 syl.), Amphīon, and Apollo, were stretched on the shell of a tortoise. Hercules used boxwood instead.
Amphiʹon built Thebes with the music of his lyre, for the very stones moved of their own accord into walls and houses.
Ariʹon charmed the dolphins by the music of his lyre, and when the bard was thrown overboard one of them carried him safely to Tæʹnarus.
