Ariphron of Sicyon (Ἀρίφρων ὁ Σικυώνιος) was a Greek poet from the Classical period, traditionally dated to the 5th–4th centuries BCE. A native of Sicyon in the northern Peloponnese, no biographical details of his life survive.

His sole attested work is the Hymn to Health (Ὕμνος εἰς Ὑγίειαν), a paean to the goddess Hygieia. It survives fragmentarily, primarily through quotation by the 2nd-century CE rhetorician Aelius Aristides [1][2]. A later prose paraphrase is also attributed to him in some manuscript traditions [1].

Ariphron’s significance rests on the preservation of this hymn, which was cited in antiquity as an example of a paean [1][2]. Its inclusion in the Greek Anthology (Anth. Pal. 6. 111) and a reference in Plutarch’s Moralia attest to its later fame [1]. The fragment provides a valuable point of reference for the study of Greek hymnic poetry and the cult of personified abstractions.

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: Ariphron. https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-757 2. Perseus Digital Library: Aelius Aristides, Oration 37 (Regarding a Remark in Passing), 1. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0625%3Asection%3D1