[91:] See Jahrb. d. arch. Inst., 1900, p. 144 ff.
[92:] Mon. dell' Inst. iv., pl. 9.
[93:] No. lxi.
[94:] Ibid., l. 131 f.
XXV.—MUSIC AND DANCING.
(Wall-Cases 54-56.)
Music.—The Greek term μουσική (music) included much more than we mean by music. It was applied to the education of the mind as opposed to γυμναστική (gymnastics), the education of the body. In the narrower sense, however, it corresponded to the modern term, and to this the Greeks from early times attached a high importance. It was the effect of music upon the character which appealed to them above all things, and it was this which caused Plato to banish from his ideal state certain modes of music which would, he thought, be injurious to its well-being. These modes or "harmonies" were named after race-divisions. We find the Dorian, the Aeolic, the Ionic, the Lydian, and the Phrygian. The Dorian was universally approved for its manly qualities, but Plato rejected the Lydian as useless and effeminate.[95]
Fig. 252. Apollo playing on a Kithara.
Of the stringed instruments used among the Greeks, the lyre was the most prominent. There were two varieties of this, the kithara and the lyre proper. The kithara, an instrument with a large wooden sounding board and upright arms, was played chiefly by professional musicians, such as the kitharist represented on a fine vase in the Third Vase Room, who has won a victory at one of the great musical contests (E 460; Pedestal 7). The illustration (fig. 252), taken from an amphora of the fifth century (E 256, Case H, Third Vase Room), shows Apollo playing on the kithara, which is supported by a band passing round his left wrist, but leaving the fingers of the left hand free to play on the strings. In his right hand he holds the plectrum, which is attached by a cord to the instrument. The plectrum was of various forms, but its most essential part was the tooth for catching and sounding the wires. The lyre proper (fig. 253) is distinguished by its curving arms and sounding board of tortoiseshell (hence called chelys). The wooden framework and parts of the shell of a Greek lyre found in a tomb near Athens are shown in Case 56 (No. 642). As the popular instrument, the lyre was naturally taught in schools. Two interesting Greek vases (Nos. 643 and 644), exhibited in these Cases, give pictures of boys receiving music lessons at a school. In one instance a boy is learning the lyre, in another the boy is playing the flutes, while the master, who holds a plectrum, is playing on a lyre. Domestic animals are freely admitted, and the discipline seems far from severe.