The Greeks and Music

Mythology has it that music originated from the Greek gods. Zeus and his wife, Mnemosyne, had nine daughters that were called the Muses. Each one had musical talent that was shared with both the gods and with mankind. Ancient Greek literature tells us that the Muses were worshipped by many who sought to have the gift of music bestowed to them by the gods. Hesiod in Theogony and Homer in The Odyssey choose to credit the Muses for their gift of song. Hesiod also sang Works and Days, a song about daily life, by first asking the Muses for their guidance of his words.

Our word “music” is essentially taken from their name.

Up until 600 B.C.E., the Greeks did not write down the music they composed. Only the lyrics of about 40 songs have been recovered. Therefore, discovering what Ancient Greek music sounded like is reduced to a guessing game for scholars. Though by linking the evidence they do have, there is a fair amount of evidence for them to go on.

Much like today, the Greeks had different styles of music. Hymonoi and dithyrambs were styles designated for religious songs. Hyporchema was the dance genre and skolion was the ballad genre. Also like modern song writers, they had different modes and intervals that they used to compose. Songs were characterized by the mode they were written in such as the mixolydian mode. The mixolydian was commonly used in sad, depressing songs because of its sound. The modes were altered in medieval times, but the modes writers use today canbe said to have originated in Greece.

Plutarch, a classical historian, found that at the end of the eighth century the second king of Rome, Numa, gathered the men of the city into guilds. Each guild was placed in a heirarchy of importance to the society. The one at the top of the list was the Musicians. Although it is known that music was a huge part of the classical society, when it comes to Greek music, historians have only a second hand account. Poets, writers, painters and sculptures give people today access to what music was like in the classical world.

The link the Greeks made between their well-being and music is found in many forms in their society. Political decisions were often made while music was played to ease the tension. It is even said that, "The frequency with which the Greeks link their music and their politics is matched by the way modern scholars efficiently seperate the two." The Greeks strongly emphasized musical knowledge as something their patrons should look highly upon. Therefore, the educated and the elite found themselves almost surrounded by music.

In theater, at the symposia, during festivals and in leisure time, music could be found at almost any gathering. Bards, professional singers, traveled all over the classical world singing and playing the tales of the Greek heroes and the Trojan War. The more affluent sect, and mostly the males, learned how to play an instrument from a fairly early age. The skill was seen as an asset. The lyre, aulos and krotala were musical intruments widely used by the Greeks. The chorus, found in most theater productions by the Greeks, was of great importance to the play's plot and flow.

Music held a special place in Greek, and Roman, society. As Plato once put it, "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."

Apollo is the Greek god of music and art shown below.

Design Copyright © 2005
Website design and content by Whitney Kessler