Ancient Greek Music Research Paper
Ancient Greek Music
Ancient Greek music was extremely popular in those times, and frequently used at ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. It was also played a lot because the Greeks saw playing it as a way of worshipping the Gods, pipes and pans were played when worshipping Dionysus, the god of wine and partying and other instruments played for other gods.
The word ‘music’ comes from the muses who were daughters of Zeus and were known to be the goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science and the arts. Although no-one actually knows what ancient Greek music sounded like, they do know what instruments were played. There were:
The lyre- an ancient stringed instrument played by the Greeks, the word comes from the Greek λύρα …show more content…
Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre and with it Orpheus charmed everything animate and inanimate, from birds to rocks. He even helped the Argonauts on their journeys, saving their lives many a time with his music.
He fell in love with a nymph called Eurydice and charmed her with his music. They were a very happy couple and decided to get married. But their love was short lived as after the ceremony Eurydice was bitten by a snake and died. Orpheus was terribly sad and mourned her death for years. Finally he decided to go to the underworld to get her back. He travelled down and got past Cerberus using his music. He played his lyre in front of Hades and the music was so sweet it even softened the lord of the dead’s heart. He begged hades to let him have Eurydice back and Hades said “yes, but on one condition, on the way back up you must not look back at Eurydice or she will be stuck in hell forever.” Orpheus agreed.
On the way back he did not look back, even though he desperately wanted to. They were just at the mouth of the living world and Orpheus stepped out, happy that they had made it. He looked back to share this moment with Eurydice but she was still in the land of the dead and was instantly dragged back to
Ancient Greek music was extremely popular in those times, and frequently used at ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. It was also played a lot because the Greeks saw playing it as a way of worshipping the Gods, pipes and pans were played when worshipping Dionysus, the god of wine and partying and other instruments played for other gods.
The word ‘music’ comes from the muses who were daughters of Zeus and were known to be the goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science and the arts. Although no-one actually knows what ancient Greek music sounded like, they do know what instruments were played. There were:
The lyre- an ancient stringed instrument played by the Greeks, the word comes from the Greek λύρα …show more content…
Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre and with it Orpheus charmed everything animate and inanimate, from birds to rocks. He even helped the Argonauts on their journeys, saving their lives many a time with his music.
He fell in love with a nymph called Eurydice and charmed her with his music. They were a very happy couple and decided to get married. But their love was short lived as after the ceremony Eurydice was bitten by a snake and died. Orpheus was terribly sad and mourned her death for years. Finally he decided to go to the underworld to get her back. He travelled down and got past Cerberus using his music. He played his lyre in front of Hades and the music was so sweet it even softened the lord of the dead’s heart. He begged hades to let him have Eurydice back and Hades said “yes, but on one condition, on the way back up you must not look back at Eurydice or she will be stuck in hell forever.” Orpheus agreed.
On the way back he did not look back, even though he desperately wanted to. They were just at the mouth of the living world and Orpheus stepped out, happy that they had made it. He looked back to share this moment with Eurydice but she was still in the land of the dead and was instantly dragged back to