Greek Gods

Greek music had a special place for the ancient Greeks. They believed that the music nurtured their relationship with the gods and goddesses. Many of the Greek myths included musical instruments, the lyre being one of the most popular. It was believed by the ancient Greeks that they lyre was invented by the Greek god, Apollo. It was written in the myths that the son of Zeus named Amphion, used the lyre to help build the walls of Thebes. As the myth goes, Amphion started playing the lyre and the stones began building themselves into the wall.

The lyre is a stringed instrument which was originally made of tortoise shell and had anywhere from 3 to 12 strings. The lyre was played with a pick (or plectrum). The player would strum on all of the strings but would press down on the ones they did not want to be heard.

Other instruments used in ancient Greece was the Cithara, barbitos, phorminx, epigonion, and the pandouris. The cithara was a 5 stringed instrument to begin with but later they were made with 12 strings. They were bigger than the lyre (or lyra), and it became the main instrument in their concerts. This instrument is said to have been invented by Cepion, a student of Terpander. Other instruments which have been derived from the cithara are the guitar, cittern, zither, and more.

The Barbitos (or Barbiton) is an instrument in the lyre family and resembles a lyre but has longer arms and a more narrow soundbox. Musicians from the School of Lesbos, are often shown on vases and urns playing the Barbitos.

The Phormix was an instrument which was decorated with gold and ivory was seen in the company of epic singers. It is the oldest of the cithara style of instrument.

The Epigonion was invented by Epigonus and is an instrument with the most strings. It has been known to have as many as 40 strings on it. It was played on one’s knee.

The Pandouris is also known as the trichord because it has three strings on it. It is also the first fretted instrument known. It is one of the first instruments in the lute family. The first knowledge of this instrument was found on the Mantineia marble and is now exhibited in the Athens Archaeological Museum.

Some of the modern day Greek musicians are Iannis Xenakis, who is a composer, architect, and a theorist. Other well known Greek musicians are Maria Callas, Mikis Theodorakis, Dimitris Mitropoulos, Manos Hadjidakis, Vangelis, Nikos Skalkottas, Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri, Rotting Christ, and Anna Vissi, just to name a few.

The music of the Greek Byzantium is a major influence in the history of European music. Liturgical chants became the beginning of music during the Renaissance era. It is also believed that the Greek music played a big part in instrumental court and also in dance music.