Meter and music

Book section : Chapter

Most ancient Greek lyric poetry was composed to be sung to melody, and was regularly accompanied by the poets themselves on stringed instruments such as lyre, barbitos, and kithara, or by fellow-performers playing double-pipes. Something of the melodic element may be conjectured on the basis of theoretical expositions of the tunings used in archaic times, and from musical documents from later times that employ notation systems devised around the fifth century BC. Rhythmical units consisting of identifiable sequences of long and short positions form the meters of all Greek lyric poetry. The dochmiac colon happens to be represented on the earliest extended piece of notated melody on papyrus, and this virtually unique piece of ancient evidence for the music of classical lyric is worth dwelling on. It preserves a passage from a chorus of Euripides' tragedy Orestes of 408 BC, and the melody seems likely to be that composed by Euripides himself.

Authors: D'Angour, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Host title: A Companion to Greek Lyric
• Chapter number: 9
• Series: Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World
• Publication date: 2022-05-06
• DOI: 10.1002/9781119122661.ch9
• EISBN: 9781119122661
• ISBN: 9781119122623
• Language: English
• Keywords: archaic lyric meters; classical lyric meters; Greek lyric poetry; musical writings
• Subtype: Chapter