page_title: Music of ancient Greece
hierarchical_section_title: Music of ancient Greece
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Apollo und sein Rabe. Innerseite von einer attischen weißgrundigen Kylix, Pistoxenos-Maler (andere Zuschreibungen gehen an den Berliner Maler und an Onesimos), ca. 460 v. Chr. Aus einem Grab in Delphi. Dm. 18 cm. Museum von Delphi, Inv. 8140, Saal XII. English: Apollo wearing a laurel or myrtle wreath, a white peplos and a red himation and sandals, seating on a lion-pawed diphros; he holds a kithara in his left hand and pours a libation with his right hand. Facing him, a black bird identified as a pigeon, a jackdaw, a crow (which may allude to his love affair with Coronis) or a raven (a mantic bird). Tondo of an Attic white-ground kylix attributed to the Pistoxenos Painter (or the Berlin Painter, or Onesimos). Diam. 18 cm (7 in.). From a tomb (probably that of a priest) in Delphi. Archaeological Museum of Delphi, Inv. 8140, room XII. Français&#160;: Apollon portant une couronne de laurier ou de myrte, un péplos blanc, un himation rouge et une paire de sandales est assis sur un diphros (siège) aux pieds de lion. Il tient une cithare dans la main gauche et verse une libation de la main droite. Face à lui un oiseau noir identifié à un pigeon, un choucas, une corneille (allusion possible à sa liaison avec Coronis) ou un corbeau (oiseau aux pouvoirs mantiques). Médaillon d'un kylix attique à fond blanc d'attribution incertaine (Peintre de Pistoxénos, Peintre de Berlin ou Onésimos&#160;?), v. 460 av. J.-C. D. 18 cm. Provenance&#160;: une tombe à Delphes, vraisemblablement celle d'un prêtre. Musée archéologique de Delphes, Inv. 8140, salle XII.
context_page_description: The music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and religious ceremonies to theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks. There are significant fragments of actual Greek musical notation as well as many literary references to ancient Greek music, such that some things can be known—or reasonably surmised—about what the music sounded like, the general role of music in society, the economics of music, the importance of a professional caste of musicians, etc. Even archaeological remains reveal an abundance of depictions on ceramics, for example, of music being performed.
  The word music comes from the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours.
  Concerning the origin of music and musical instruments: the history of music in ancient Greece is so closely interwoven with Greek mythology and legend that it is often difficult to surmise what is historically true and what is myth.
context_section_description: The music of ancient Greece was almost universally present in ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and religious ceremonies to theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. It thus played an integral role in the lives of ancient Greeks. There are significant fragments of actual Greek musical notation as well as many literary references to ancient Greek music, such that some things can be known—or reasonably surmised—about what the music sounded like, the general role of music in society, the economics of music, the importance of a professional caste of musicians, etc. Even archaeological remains reveal an abundance of depictions on ceramics, for example, of music being performed.
  The word music comes from the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours.
  Concerning the origin of music and musical instruments: the history of music in ancient Greece is so closely interwoven with Greek mythology and legend that it is often difficult to surmise what is historically true and what is myth. The music and music theory of ancient Greece laid the foundation for western music and western music theory, as it would go on to influence the ancient Romans, the early christian church and the medieval composers. Specifically the teachings of the Pythagoreans, Ptolemy, Philodemus, Aristoxenus, Aristides, and Plato compile most of our understanding of ancient Greek music theory, musical systems, and musical ethos. 
  The study of music in ancient Greece was included in the curriculum of great philosophers, Pythagoras in particular believed that music was delegated to the same mathematical laws of harmony as the mechanics of the cosmos, evolving into an idea known as the music of the spheres. The Pythagoreans focused on the mathematics and the acoustical science of sound and music. They developed tuning systems and harmonic principles that focused on simple integers and ratios, laying a foundation for acoustic science; however, this was not the only school of thought in ancient Greece. Aristoxenus, who wrote a number of musicological treatises, for example, studied music with a more empirical tendency. Aristoxenus believed that intervals should be judged by ear instead of mathematical ratios, though Aristoxenus was influenced by Pythagoras and used mathematic terminology and measurements in his research.
caption: The Cylix of Apollo with the tortoise-shell (chelys) lyre, on a 5th century BC drinking cup (kylix)
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