Music of ancient Greece

• 1. Origins And Mythology

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  The word music comes from the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavors. Ancient Greek myths never codified into one form exist as several different versions across multiple centuries. These variations lead to contradictions among authors and even within the same author's work. According to these stories, music, instruments, and aural arts are attributed to divine origin. The art of music was a gift of the gods to men. Apollo was prominently considered the god of music and harmony. Several legendary gods and demigods created aspects of music or contributed to its development. Some gods represented specific elements of music. The performance of music integrated into many modes of Greek storytelling including drama and poetry. There are numerous ancient Greek myths related to musicians. Amphion learned music from Hermes and built Thebes by moving stones with his golden lyre. Orpheus played so magically that he could soothe wild beasts. The Orphic creation myths have Rhea playing on a brazen drum to compel man's attention to the oracles of the goddess. Hermes showed Apollo his newly invented tortoise-shell lyre and played such a ravishing tune that he was forgiven at once for stealing cattle. Apollo won musical victories over Marsyas and Pan.

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• 2. Social And Religious Functions

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  Music played an integral role in ancient Greek society from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies and theatre. Pericles' teacher Damon said according to Plato in the Republic that when fundamental modes of music change, the fundamental modes of the state change with them. Music and gymnastics comprised the main divisions in one's schooling. The word 'music' expressed the entire education. Instrumental music served a religious and entertaining role as it often accompanied religious events, rituals, and festivals. A popular type of piece to be played while drinking at symposia was the skolion. Before and after these drinking parties, religious libations were made to deities like Zeus. These offerings were often accompanied by a special libation melody called the spondeion. An aulos player often accompanied this melody. Music occupied an important role in Greek sacrificial ceremonies. The sarcophagus of Hagia Triada shows that the aulos was present during sacrifices as early as 1300 BC. Music was also present during times of initiation, worship, and religious celebration playing very integral parts of the sacrificial cults of Apollo and Dionysus. Music along with intoxication of potions, fasting, and honey was integral in preparing for and catalyzing divination. Music would often induce prophets into religious ecstasy and revelation so much so that the expression for making music and prophesying were identical in ancient Greek. Instruments were also present in wartime though it may not have been considered music entirely. Specific notes of the trumpet dictated commands to soldiers on the battlefield. The aulos and percussion instruments accompanied verbal commands given to oarsmen by boatswains.

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• 3. Instruments And Technology

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  The lyre, cithara, aulos, barbiton, hydraulis, and salpinx all found their way into the music of ancient Rome. A strummed and occasionally plucked string instrument essentially built on a tortoise-shell frame generally had seven or more strings tuned to the notes of one of the modes. The lyre was a folk-instrument associated with the cult of Apollo. It was used to accompany others or even oneself for recitation and song. It served as the conventional training-instrument for an aristocratic education. The cithara was a professional version of the lyre used by paid musicians. The kithara had a box-type frame with strings stretched from the cross-bar at the top to the sounding box at the bottom. It was held upright and played with a plectrum. The strings were tunable by adjusting wooden wedges along the cross-bar. Aristotle described the cithara as an organon technikon or an artist's instrument requiring training. A larger bass-version of the cithara known as the barbiton was considered east-Ionian and somewhat foreign. The barbiton was the primary instrument of the highly regarded ancient lyricist Sappho. A trapezoidal psaltery called the kanonaki was invented by the Pythagoreans in the 6th century BC. Modern reconstructions of the aulos indicate they produced a low clarinet-like sound. There is some confusion about the exact nature of the instrument with alternate descriptions indicating single-reeds instead of double reeds. It was associated with the cult of Dionysus. A keyboard instrument called the hydraulis used water to supply constant flow of pressure to pipes. Two detailed descriptions have survived from Vitruvius and Heron of Alexandria dealing primarily with the keyboard mechanism.

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• 4. Philosophical Theory And Ethics

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  The enigmatic ancient Greek figure of Pythagoras laid foundations of our knowledge of harmonics through mathematical devotion. After studying sound hammers made in a blacksmith's forge, Pythagoras invented the monochord which has a movable bridge along with a string stretched over a sounding board. Using the monochord he found the association between vibrations and lengths of strings. Plato complained about new music stating that it was not permitted to exchange melodic styles of established forms. Knowledge and informed judgment penalized disobedience. There were no whistles or unmusical mob-noises or clapping for applause. The rule was to listen silently and learn. Boys teachers and the crowd were kept in order by threat of the stick. Later an unmusical anarchy was led by poets who had natural talent but were ignorant of laws of music. Through foolishness they deceived themselves into thinking there was no right or wrong way in music. By their works and theories they infected masses with presumption to think themselves adequate judges. So theatres once silent grew vocal and aristocracy of music gave way to pernicious theatrocracy. Playing what sounded good violated established ethos of modes developed by time of Plato. A complex system related certain emotional and spiritual characteristics to certain modes. Dorian modes were harsh while Phrygian modes were sensual. Plato talked about proper use of various modes including Dorian Phrygian Lydian and others. Ancient Greeks heard music primarily as monophonic built on single melodies based on system of modes. While Greek musicians clearly employed technique of sounding more than one note at same time most basic common texture was monophonic.

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• 5. Surviving Notation And Fragments

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  There are some fragments of actual Greek musical notation alongside many literary references and depictions on ceramics. Relevant archaeological remains allow things to be known or reasonably surmised about what music sounded like. The Eleusis inv. 907 trumpet signal survives from Classical Period. Papyrus Vienna G 2315 contains Euripides Orestes text. Papyrus Leiden inv. P. 510 holds Iphigenia in Aulis music. Papyrus Ashm. inv. 89B/31 and 33 contain citharodic nomes from Hellenistic Period. Papyrus Hibeh 231 and Papyrus Zeno 59533 preserve additional material. Delphic Hymns survive as stone inscriptions with music notation lines above main Greek lettering. Seikilos epitaph stands as a complete surviving song inscription. Hymns of Mesomedes offer further examples from Roman imperial period. These documents provide concrete evidence of actual melodies and notation systems used by ancient Greeks. Research into decipherings of cuneiform music script argues for sounding different pitches simultaneously centuries before Greeks learned to write. All we can say from available evidence is that while Greek musicians clearly employed technique of sounding more than one note at same time most basic common texture was monophonic.

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• 6. Genres And Performance Practices

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  A hymn is a metric composition whose text addresses a god either directly or indirectly. They are earliest formal type in Greek music and survive in relatively large numbers. Paeans were most commonly sung in honor or worship of Apollo as well as Athena. They usually solemnly expressed hope for deliverance from peril or were sung in thanksgiving after victory or escape. A type of hymn or processional called prosodion invoked or praised a god. Prosodions were usually sung on road to altar or shrine before or after paean. Hyporchema was dance-song with marked rhythmic movement commonly associated with paean. First Delphic Hymn titled Paean or Hyporchema shows difficulty distinguishing between them. Dithyrambs were merrily sung in celebration at festivals performed especially in dedication to Dionysus god of wine. Dithyrambs featured choirs of men and boys accompanied by an aulos player. Whether long narrative poetry like Homer's epics was sung is not entirely known. Socrates uses words sing and speak in connection with Homeric epics implying they have been recited unaccompanied by instruments. Music present in ancient Greek lyric poetry defined as song accompanied by lyre. Lyric poetry branched into monodic performed by singular person and choral sung sometimes danced by group. Famous lyric poets include Alkaios and Sappho from Island of Lesbos. Aristotle links origins of tragic drama to dithyrambs in his Poetics. Leaders of dithyrambs led song and dance moves responded to by group. This relationship began tragic drama which earliest stages had single actor playing all parts through song or speech.

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