Cymbals were largely used by the Greeks and Romans in religious ceremonies of an ecstatic character, such as the mysteries of Demeter and Kore and the worship of Kybele. Among the cymbals in Case 56 is an interesting pair (No. 654; fig. 254) inscribed in Greek with the name of Oata their owner (Ὠάτας εἰμί). They were originally joined together by a chain, part of which still remains. In the lower part of Cases 55-56 is a considerable variety of bells in bronze (No. 655).
(643) and (644) Cat. of Vases, III., E 171, 172; (645) For the structure of the ancient flute, cf. especially Baumeister, Denkmäler, s.v. Flöten; (648) Bull. de Corr. Hell., XVIII., pl. 21; (652) For the syrinx, cf. Tillyard in Journ. Hell. Stud., XXVII. (1907), p. 167 ff.; (653) Cat. of Sculpt., II., 1271.
See in general, Camb. Comp. to Gk. Stud., pp. 370-374; Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Musica.
Dancing.—Dancing among the Greeks and Romans differed in many ways from our own. In the first place dances (which were generally accompanied by the flutes) were largely associated with religion. Plato in his Laws gave it as his opinion that, in imitation of the Egyptian example, all dancing should be made to take a religious character.[98] This ceremonial side of Greek dancing is illustrated by a primitive stone vessel from Cyprus (No. 655), which represents three draped women dancing in a ring. Among the Romans the processions of the Salii or dancing priests of Mars are among the best-known examples of religious dancing.
In private life dancing was regarded by the Greeks rather as an entertainment to be provided by hired performers than as a recreation in which guests could take their part.[99] Hence with them men and women did not dance together as in the modern fashion. The demand for dancing girls to entertain the guests at banquets led to the training of large numbers of this class. A vase (No. 656), placed in the lower part of Case 54, shows dancing girls being instructed in their art. They repeatedly appear on Greek vases dancing before the feasting guests (e.g. on E 68 in Case E in the Third Vase Room, the interior of a cup in the style of Brygos). These girls often carried castanets when dancing, as may be seen on the lekythos (No. 657) and in the relief from Melos (No. 658).
Fig. 255.—Greek Women Dancing. Ca. 2:7.
Greek women sometimes danced in private among themselves, especially on the occasion of some domestic festival.[100] It is with this kind of dancing that we should probably associate the terracotta figurines (fig. 255). They illustrate the important part played by the arms and the drapery in ancient dancing, which was largely mimetic. Ovid notes that supple arms are one of the principal qualifications for a good dancer.[101] This tradition was undoubtedly inherited from Greek dancing, for (religious rites apart) the Romans regarded the art as an unseemly one, so much so that Cicero remarked "that practically no one except a madman danced when sober."[102]
(656) Cat. of Vases, III., E 185; (657) Ibid., E 642: (658) Cat. of Terracottas, B 370. For Greek dancing in general, cf. Emmanuel, La danse grecque.
[95:] Plat., Rep. iii. 398-9.
[96:] Plato, Rep. iii. 399 D; Arist., Pol. viii. 6, 5 ff.