An orpharion, labeled cythara communis, from Kircher's Musurgia Universalis

The orpharion is a plucked instrument from the Renaissance. Athanasius Kircher (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner) was a 17th century German Jesuit Scholar who published around 40 works most The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere It is part of the cittern family. The cittern (occasionally spelled " cithern " is a stringed instrument of the Lute / Guitar family dating from the Renaissance. Its construction is similar to the larger bandora. Bandora may refer to Bandora (instrument Bandora (town, a town in Goa India The metal strings are tuned like a lute and are plucked with the fingers. Therefore, the orpharion can be used instead of a lute. Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck (either Fretted or unfretted and a deep round back or more specifically to an instrument from The nut and bridge of an orpharion are typically sloped, so that the string length increases from treble to bass. The nut of a String instrument is a small piece of hard material which supports the strings at the end closest to the Headstock or scroll. A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a Stringed instrument and transmitting the Vibration of those strings to some other structural component Bass (ˈbɛɪs as in base) when used as an adjective is used to describe tones of low Frequency or range.

The orpharion was invented in England in the second half of the 16th century. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In sources of English music it is often mentioned as an alternative to the lute.

The name of Orpharion comes from "Orpheus" and "Arion". Orpheus ( Greek: Ὀρφεύς ˈɔrfiəs ( OHR-fee-uhs) or /ˈɔrfjuːs/ ( OHR'-fews) in English is a figure from Greek mythology born in Arion was a legendary Kitharode in Ancient Greece, a Dionysiac Poet credited with inventing the Dithyramb.