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Classical Liberal Arts Academy

History of Music

Lesson 03.   Ancient Greek Music

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This lesson completes our study of music before the Christian era. 

1.  Lesson

Directions:  Read the following lesson carefully.  You must know everything in it to pass your lesson examination.

When new families first come upon the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, they find it strange to see Music listed as one of the Mathematical arts.  However, the art of Music was truly developed not by simple experience with instruments, but by philosophers who discovered early that sounds were related to numbers.  In Mathematics, we define Music as the art of counting and measuring relative multitude as opposed to Arithmetic which is the art of counting and measuring absolute multitude.  In Arithmetic, we study multitudes by themselves, while in Music we study multitudes in relation to others.  Thus in Arithmetic, we use terms such as one, seven, even, odd, while in Music we use terms like half, double, 2:1, 3:2, 9:8 and so on.

Of course this art was discovered by the ancients, and in this lesson we will study the contributions of the Greeks to pre-Christian music.  The Romans will not receive any special attention since their contribution to music consisted largely of preserving what the Greeks left behind.

THE MUSES

In classical Greece, the Muses were recognized as the spirits of the arts that inspired their chosen musicians.  You are likely familiar with the legend of the nine muses, but the number varied through history and this development helps us to recognize the development of the art of Music itself through time.

Early in Greek history, different traditions recognized three muses, though they disagreed on their interests.  One held that the three muses were the spirits of three different elements of music.  Another held that the three muses were the spirits of three different chords of the harp.  St. Augustine provides us with what is the most credible origin of the legend of the muses, which we would be wise to accept:

"A certain state ordered from each of three artists a set of statues of the Muses, to be placed as an offering in the temple of Apollo, intending that whichever of the artists produced the most beautiful statues, they should select and purchase from him. It so happened that these artists executed their works with equal beauty, that all nine pleased the state, and that all were bought to be dedicated in the temple of Apollo; and he says that afterwards Hesiod the poet gave names to them all. It was not Jupiter, therefore, that begot the nine Muses, but three artists created three each. And the state had originally given the order for three, not because it had seen them in visions, nor because they had presented themselves in that number to the eyes of any of the citizens, but because it was obvious to remark that all sound, which is the material of song, is by nature of three kinds. For it is either produced by the voice, as in the case of those who sing with the mouth without an instrument; or by blowing, as in the case of trumpets and flutes; or by striking, as in the case of harps and drums, and all other instruments that give their sound when struck. 

                                                                                           On Christian Doctrine II.17

We must, however, be careful when reading St. Augustine's explanation of the doctrine of the Muses and any attacks made against such legends by Christians or modern historians.  First, our desire in this study is not to determine whether the existence of the Muses are consistent with Christian teaching or not, but to understand accurately what the belief was.  Second, although the beliefs of men may not be true in the absolute sense, they are often based on some other truth which is simply misused or misunderstood in its fullness.  For example, many believe that after death, the soul does not die, but is re-born in another human body.  This is partly true!  However, the soul it is not reborn into another body in this world, but will return into its own body at the resurrection.   Third, the Muses are true in a historical  since they were true in the minds of those who held them and therefore influential in human affairs. Obviously, the poets senses some influence upon their works and their audiences recognized some supernatural power at work in their song.  Therefore, whether the teaching is true or not, they are "real" since they have had influence in the world.  Be careful then not to neglect their study, but rather imagine them to be real that you may enter into the minds of the Greeks who, for whatever reason, held them to be so.  Is it not possible that the musicians were indeed spoken to and inspired by spirits whom they called Muses but we would call angels or demons? 

ORPHEUS

In the Bible, we learn that Jubal was known by the Hebrews to be the father of those who play the harp and flute.  The Bible also teaches us that the people we know as the Greeks were the sons of Javan (Gen 10:4), who was a grandson of Noah.  Among the Greeks, their legends identify Orpheus as the father of musicians.  However, we know that the Greek stories of Orpheus were received from the region of Thrace, which is further east, so it may be that the legend of Orpheus is a remnant of the memory of Jubal.

Orpheus was known to be the son of the muse Calliope, the spirit of heroic poetry, who later would be made famous as the muse who inspired Homer's immortal poems.  His divine birth and divine gifts (which included a lyre made by Hermes) were the sources of his sublime musical powers.  Orpheus is most widely known for his role in two legends.

First, he made the legendary voyage with Jason, who was told that he could not survive if Orpheus was not among his men.  Orpheus saved the crew from the songs of the Sirens, by producing music more enchanting than theirs and thereby enabling the men to pass by the luring voices of those ancient murderers. 

Second, he is known for his lamentations upon the untimely death of his bride Eurydice.  The most famous version of the story explains that Eurydice, while dancing with her maids on her wedding day was suddenly bit by a viper and died.  Orpheus, devastated by the loss, took up his lyre and sang songs so painful that the gods of the underworld were moved to tears and returned his bride to him--but only to increase his pain.  For, giving Eurydice back to Orpheus, he was told that he could not look upon her until they returned to the land of the living, but Orpheus moved by love, glanced back just as they were about to leave the darkness and lost her forever.  As a result, Orpheus took upon himself a life of celibacy, but was ultimately killed by women who, drawn by his songs were angered by his disinterest.

THE POETS

In the CLAA we're not big fans of modern "Great Books" courses that include readings of Homer, Sophocles, Vergil and so on.  The reason why is because classical poetry was not literature to be read, but music!  The poems of Homer, which were by far the most famous, were sung by a poet called in Greek an aoidos, who was accompanied by a simple four-stringed instrument on which one of several different scales (or modes) could be played.  The scales were chosen to suit the purpose and spirit of the poem--whether sad or joyful, instructional or ceremonial, etc..

The poems were arranged according to specific meters, the most popular of which was the heroic meter, or dactyllic hexameter.  The technical name may look scary, but it is simple to understand wiht a little bit of Greek knowledge.  "Dactyllic" refers to the rhythm of the lines.  Generally, a long note or syllable was followed by two shorter syllables.  You can hear the rhythm as you recite:  BAH-bit-bit  BAH-bit-bit, BAH-bit-bit.  The word daktylos in Greek means "finger" and the rhythm is so-called because the finger consists of one long part and two smaller parts. That's the rhythm!

"Hexameter" refers to the number of dactyls per line of poetry.  Hex in Greek means six, so "hexameter" means six measures or six dactyls per line.  Thus a heroic poem would look something like this:

BAH-bit-bit,  BAH-bit-bit, BAH-bit-bit, BAH-bit-bit,  BAH-bit-bit, BAH-bit-bit.
1                   2                   3                   4                   5                    6

I said that the poems would generally follow this pattern because it wasn't required.  A poet could and did include spondees, which are measure of two long syllables instead of a dactyl.  Such a line might look like this (spondees in red):

BAH-bit-bit,  BAH-BAH, BAH-bit-bit, BAH-bit-bit,  BAH-bit-bit, BAH-BAH.
1                  2                  3                  4                   5                   6

In addition to the heroic verse, other forms developed over time, but they are better taught in a Grammar course in prosody than in Music history, where the details can be treated justly.  What's important to note here is that the poets were musicians and singers--not book-writers.

PYTHAGORAS

Pythagoras (570-475 BC) is referred to as the father of music theory and, of course, he was a mathematician.  You will learn about Pythagoras in Geometry, when you learn the Pythagorean Theorem.  Early in his life, Pythagoras was sent to Egypt to learn mathematics from the priests and scribes there.  The Greeks had great admiration for the Egyptians because of their antiquity and devotion to learning and we should always remember that the Greeks received much of their philosophical foundation from the ancient Near East.

Pythagoras taught that the heavens revolved around the Earth in spheres and because of their motion produced sound, which is called the "music of the spheres".  However, since men are born with this noise in the background, they are naturally unable to hear it.  It is through the philosophical study of Mathematics (and thereby Music) that men cultivate this faculty of hearing by reason and not the ears alone.

Pythagoras's interest in music is reported to have begin when he reflected upon the different sounds coming from the blacksmith's shop.  As he investigated the differences in sounds, he realized that the changes in pitch were related to the changes in the weights of the hammers.  His studies moved to focus on the relationships of numbers to the strings of the harp.  While the study of the relationships between ratios and harmony or the ancient modes and scales would be too much for a music history course, it is sufficient for us to understand that it was in the 5th century before Christ, through the simple connection of sound to number that the development of music theory was begun.  We can surely learn the basics of Pythagoras's discoveries.

Pythagoras sought to understand the relationships between harmony and numerical ratios and what he found was that consonance or harmony was directly related to number in this way.  When we hear a combination of sounds played that are a dissonance, we feel an inability to rest there, sensing there is something "wrong" or "imperfect".  However, when we hear a set of sounds played that we sense to be complete or perfect, we have a consonance.  Pythagoras searched these relationships out and uncovered what proved to be one of creation's most amazing mysteries.

It was Pythagoras who discovered the octave interval by noticing that when two strings or pipes are played with a length in ratio of 1:2, the notes sound similar to the ear.  Click on the image to hear an octave.

Pythagoras also sought to identify the ratios of those sounds that produced harmony.  He found two basic intervals that produced the strongest harmonies.  The first was found in the ratio 2:3.  Click on the image to listen.

The second was found in the ratio 3:4.  Click on the image to listen.

Again, this is not meant to be a music theory course, but you can see that Pythagoras discovered what was to be--and is--the foundation of all music theory.  It is for this reason that Music is listed among the Mathematics courses in the CLAA.

ANCIENT GREEK INSTRUMENTS

As you can see above, the music theory that existed at the time was rather simple:  sound was controlled by altering the length of strings or pipes based on known ratios.  Thus, we find ancient instruments to consist mainly of strings and pipes.  However, if we recall Pythagoras's experience with the blacksmith's hammers, we can see that they would have quickly added bells, cymbals and drums, based on the same concept.  As we look at the instruments known to have been used among the Greeks, we will see Pythagoras' theories behind their design and remind ourselves that contrary to the theories of evolutionists, there is a reason behind man's ancient instruments as well as a reason why animals don't use them.

THE LYRE

The lyre, was very much like the Hebrew kinnor. In the picture on the right I have chosen a picture of the most legendary of constructions since it illustrates the concept behind the instrument.  You can see that it is made of a turtle shell and seven strings--a number sacred to many ancient peoples largely because of its role in music theory.  Later, the turtle shell was replaced with a more elegant hollow wooden body like that of the kinnor.  This set the length of the strings and gave each string a different sound, which would obviously have been affected by the ratios discovered by Pythagoras over time.

We have already seen that a lyre like this was believed to have given to Orpheus by Hermes, so it is clear that the Greeks believed that this instrument was in use before Pythagoras's theory developed in the 5th century BC.   What would the tunings have been set to way back then?  Remember that the the Scriptures teach us that the kinnor was in use since the beginning of human civilization and that while Pythagoras may have systematized the theory, the ability of men to set the strings for the production of the same harmonies would have been natural to man.  Theory normally follows the study of successful practices.

The lyre is considered to be a popular model of the professional and more developed kithara, which shares all of its features.  The modern word guitar is derived from kithara.

THE AULOS & PAN PIPE

We know of our study of Hebrew instruments that outside of the stringed instruments were the pipes or flutes.  The same was true in Greece.  As we have learned already the principles of Pythagoras's must theory was concerned about length and weight ratios and the sounds produced by they using strings, pipes and percussion instruments.  We can therefore expect an ancient and increasingly technical interest in the pipes.

The aulos was a general term used to refer to flutes and pipes of various kinds. Normally the aulos was played with a reed to give the pipe a "voice" in addition to its "breath".  A musician could also play two auloi together for a more harmonious effect.  One of the obvious disadvantages of the aulos was that in being played with the mouth it could not be played by a singer.  It was for this reason that the pipes were often associated with military marches, festal celebrations and the like.

The Pan pipe, named after the Greek god Pan, is formed of a collection of pipes of selected sizes (and you understand now how the sizes are determined!) that are blow across to produce sound.  Sounds of the Pan pipe are much more complex than mere whistles, as movements of the flute with the hands, changes of the angle of the flute and different techniques for blowing give the musician a great range of sounds to work with.

SUMMARY

Once again we see that wherever man is, there is music.  In our study of ancient Music, we have seen that musical instruments were similar across cultures and were of three classes:  voice, wind and percussion.  In studying the Greeks, we see the beginnings of classical music theory as Pythagoras brings practical music and the mathematical arts together.

All of this confirms our argument in Lesson 01:  that man cannot live without music.  In being created in God's likeness, gifted with a reasonable soul, and endowed with the powers of hearing and communication, man was made to dance, sing, mourn, rejoice and reflect.  Having studied the history of ancient Greek music, let us now listen to a few samples.

2.  Listening

Homeric Singing (from Homer's Odyssey, 750 BC, book VIII)

3.  Ancient Greek Music 2:  The Aulos -  In the video below, listen to Michael Atherton and his group, Melismos, perform an ancient Doric (Spartan) war song.  In the clip you get to see and hear the playing of the aulos.  Close your eyes and imagine the Spartans marching in battle.

3.  Lesson Examination

Directions:  When you have completed all of your assignments above, complete your lesson exam. 

Complete Lesson 03 Examination.

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