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Music in ancient Greece was closely related to religion and to the worship of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. The introduction of music to ancient Greece was attributed to the god Apollo, son of Zeus and the goddess Leto. Apollo was the god of many things, including music, song, poetry, beauty, youth, harmony, and light. Apollo is described in mythology as a talented musician and the founder of the art of lyre playing, and statues of the god often depict him holding a lyre. The religious cult of Apollo was widespread. The largest centres of worship were located in Delphi and Delos, but he was worshipped in most cities and villages of ancient Greece, as evidenced by the large number of temples, altars, and theatres built throughout Greece to honour him. Apollo was a symbol to the ancient Greeks of the highest forms of music and poetry, and he was felt to be an inspiration and guardian of musicians and music. Also providing inspiration to the aspiring poet and musician were the Muses, the female deities whose love of humanity drew them to earth to teach, among other things, music, poetry, and dance to mortals. Those humans who became the greatest poets and singers of antiquity were thought to have been especially favoured by the Muses. Mount Helicon was believed to be the earthly home of these women, and a sanctuary was constructed there that was filled with statues of the Muses, Apollo and other gods, as well as statues commemorating human heroes and great composers and singers of the time. Across the ancient Greek world, temples and sanctuaries were dedicated to the Muses, and the Greeks believed that they frequently patronised, inspired and sometimes even participated in the various music and poetry contests held throughout the country.
The Greek term 'mousike', or "the muses' art", actually refers, not to music in the way we perceive it today, but to a comprehensive oral training in poetry, accompanied most often by the lyre, or small harp. Therefore, the delineations between Greek music and Greek poetry in antiquity are quite indistinct, as one would usually be found with the other. Even music and dancing were very closely entwined, especially since it was often a single individual who acted as choreographer, lyricist, and composer, a practise that ensured the cohesiveness of the work. The earliest and probably most well-known pieces of ancient Greek poetry are the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, first written down around the eighth century BCE. Ancient Greek poetry is particularly interesting for the discussion of popular culture because much ancient poetry had practical goals, including the dissemination of political, philosophical, and educational ideas. Each genre of poetry was marked by a particular metric style, designated by the use of short and long metrical units. These rhythmical forms would have contributed, not only to the creation of the song, but to its memorization by performers. The recitation of long tracts of poetry relied on these rhythmic arrangements and repeated elements so that a singer could remember the whole work, which in the case of the Iliad, for example, runs to hundreds of modern printed pages. Archaic Greek culture, from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE, was an oral culture, and an author would recite his work to the accomaniment of an instrument to gathered crowds, ensuring a dynamic and interactive performance. With the advent of the written word, the style of these performances altered and no longer incorporated music into their presentation. Many types of music which came to be sung during the numerous musical contests held in archaic Greece were originated as religious compositions, and they played a large part in the many processions and ceremonies held in honour of various gods and godesses. The social life of ancient Greeks revolved largely around these numerous festivals. For example, the cult of Dionysus, which existed throughout the ancient Greek world, held large religious festivals in which music and dancing played key roles. The male and female followers of the god, the tragoi and maenads (or bacchae) respectively, sang hymns and danced in his honour. During these festivals, the followers would sometimes take to the streets, dancing and singing improvised songs to musical instruments, teasing each other and bystanders, a practice aimed at improving human morals by calling attention to human faults. The musical form known as the dithyramb, firmly established by 700 BCE, was also developed by the cult, and was named after the god himself. This form fused music, poetry, and dance, as well as elements of the Epic (the adventures and experiences of Dionysus) and Choric (the lyric content of the thoughts and emotions of the people). Performances of the dithyramb usually took place around the altars of Dionysus, but the growing numbers of people who gathered to watch the performances necessitated the conversion of these small areas in to much larger venues, eventually resulting in the development of large theatres, many of which still survive to this day. These structures, which were built throughout Greece, were considered sanctuaries of the god, and the rise of drama was directly descended from his worship.  The development of musical competitions, on the other hand, is said to have originated from the hymns to Apollo at Delphi. In 582 BCE the Pythian games at Delphi were introduced, whi, unlike the Olympic games, included musical competitions as well as althletic contests. The practise of awarding prizes for the best hymns and songs quickly gained popularity and spread throughout ancient Greece. Although there were countless musical and dramatic contests in honour of the gods which were held at regular intervals, contests could also be held on the occasion of an important event, or upon the death of a king or hero. After the middle of the sixth century BCE, Athens, following a growing trend of large festivals in other areas, introduced the festival of the City Dionysia, a huge city-wide festival to Dionysus which lasted a week in early Spring. The festival was both a cultural and humanitarian event: along with the various musical and dramatic contests there was a general loosening of social structures, and slaves were allowed comparitiely more freedoms during the festival than at other times of the year. The development of dramatic competitions, both tragic and comic, also had a profound effect on the nature of the songs themselves. Prior to the introduction of competitions, each type of song had specific ritualistic and repetitive aspects which distinguished them from one another. The competitive atmosphere of the contests, however, had the effect of counteracting the strict adherence to the ritualistic nature of the songs, and contestants who interacted with and learned from each other began the inevitable process of improvisation and secularization, which became increasingly marked. The dithyramb, for instance, originally having as its subject the deeds and myths surrounding Dionysus, now embraced episodes in the lives of other gods and even human heroes. Neither were composers content with leaving the structure of the form untouched, and gradually introduced innovations to the melodic pattern. The nomos, or ritual choral lyric, was gradually replaced by the harmonia, a word which referred both to the adaptation of the music, but also to the pitch, modulation, colour, timbre, and intensity of a musical form. Such developments are first noted in writing from around 420 BCE (and even then we must rely on second hand information, such as Plato's mentioning of earlier musical theorists). Ancient writers would distinguish further by naming different types of harmonia by the various regions of Greece in which the changes had originated. Thus today we can speak of the Aeolian, Dorian, or Ionian harmoniae, among a host of others, even if we do not know the specific characteristics of the musical scales.
Not everyone was thrilled with the new developments in music. Innovations in the aulos, or double oboe, which was used to accompany the singing chorus in dramatic performances, were such that a player could end up overpowering the singers they were supposed to be accompanying. Although this signalled a greater equality between instrumentation and the poetry with which it was paired, the affront to tradition was sometimes met with criticism. One contemporary, Pratinas of Phlius, expressed his displeasure at the development in no uncertain terms. "...the aulos must be [...] content to be leader in the revel only, in the fist-fights of tipsy youngsters raging at the front door. Beat back him who has the breath of a mottled toad, burn up in flames that spit-wasting, babbling, noisy reed, spoiling melody and rhythm in its march." The influential power of music to alter the disposition of the listener was a familiar concept to the Greeks, and this belief would have influenced their attitudes towards new developments. Developments in drama are relevant to the discussion of greek music, as it played an integral part in productions, and drama was considered a part of 'mousike'. The musical style of the play of Euripides (c.482-406 BCE) was particularly innovative and, therefore, came under initial attack. Plato was especially concerned about this 'new music' and the decline of musical standards. The comic poet Aristophanes criticised the composer for filling his plays with popular and exotic songs designed to appeal to the emotions of the audience and which "defiled the solemn and austere character of the ancient harmonies."
In spite of such criticism, Euripides'
plays enjoyed a great deal of popularity (and they were
still being performed 600-700 years after their first
productions), corresponding as they did with new
developments in drama such as the gradual freeing of rhythm
and melody to express more acurately the variety of
situations and emotions described in the text. Drama became
increasingly more innovative, with the introduction of
down-to-earth subject matter and use of the sensational to
appeal to and entertain audiences. Individual emotions and
solo songs were also stressed over the public voice of the
chorus, allowing for a greater degree of personal
expression. On the other hand, in an attitude which calls to
mind modern-day parent's reactions to the music of their
children, the philosopher Plato (427-347 BCE) flatly
rejected this "new" music on the grounds that it aroused
emotions and passions and in so doing compromised one's
rational equilibrium. Plato supported the idea of music as a
part of education, but Following the death of Aristotle, the innovations in music and musical technique ensured that music making became more and more the province of professional musicians, who became known as the technitai Dionusou, or the "artists of Dionysus". By the third century BCE these individuals had organised into various guilds, and even when Rome had achieved supremacy over the Mediterranean, they still enjoyed both popularity and significant power, and even Roman emperors sought to maintain the rules of stage etiquette theat they had developed. Although their focus was still nominally religious, and their primary role was still to perform liturgies and festivals in honour of Dionysus, they travelled a large circuit, and it is probable that their performances were not entirely religiously motivated. These individuals continued to incorporate new musical innovations and continued the move away from the emphasis on the citizen body and towards a greater emphasis on the individual. We may never know exactly how ancient Greek music sounded, but its popularity and presence in the ancient world has undoubtedly influenced the course of music right up to the present day.
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Ancient Greek
culture was infused with music on nearly every level, and it
is probable that no other people in history has made as many
references to music in its art and literature. To determine
what was considered "popular" music in ancient Greece,
however, is extremely problematic. One of the most basic
difficulties confronting the researcher is that ancient
Greek music cannot be definitively reconstructed so that we
cannot know exactly how it sounded in terms of pitch, tempo,
or instrumentation. We must rely instead on existing textual
references and a small number of song fragments to draw what
conclusions we can concerning the performance of these
songs. Even with these sources, however, the day-to-day
music that accompanied chores or idle hours went completely
unrecorded except for its depiction on fragments of pottery.
However, by examining all of the sources that are available,
it is readily apparent that music played a large part in
Greek life in antiquity: it accompanied household chores and
played a role in religious and personal festivals and
symposia, or the drinking parties men. Even if we cannot
imagine the exact notes, there exists enough information to
piece together a general picture of the roles and contexts
of music during this period. Although ancient Greek music
would have had specialized forms that we might classify as
high culture, or as folk culture, the fact that this mode of
communication was so pervasive throughout Greek society
suggests that a good case can be made for its inclusion in a
popular culture study.
The third divine
figure associated with music in ancient Greece was Dionysus,
who was the symbol and inspiration to the music, song, and
dance of the dramatic arts, the development of which was
closely related to the cult of the god. Dionysus was often
associated with the
aulos, an instrument
resembling the modern oboe. Whereas Apollo represented the
ideal, Dionysus was a more realistic and down-to-earth god,
whose art was based, not upon lofty ideals of the meaning of
life, but upon the joy, sorrow, and passions of every human
being. Thus these two gods represented the whole range of
human life in music and poetry. Apart from these main
figures, musical contests, festivals, and religious rites
were also held in honour of a myriad of other gods,
demi-gods, and heroes, including Demeter, Hera, Artemis,
Poseidon, Hephaistos, Helios, Iacanthos, and Eros.
The function or
subject of the lyric was used as well as regional
developments to distinguish between the songs. Such subtypes
that developed included drinking songs (scolia), wedding
songs (hymenaios and
epithalamion), and hymns that celebrated a worthy person,
like a winning athlete (encomium).
Drinking parties were the almost exclusive property of
aristocratic men, providing an forum for them to gather in a
relaxed and informal atmosphere and sing various types of
songs and play the lyre. Wedding songs, conversely, were
most likely sung by all classes and come the closest to what
we might consider true popular musical culture. Although
private events, the conveyance of the bride by the groom to
her new home was accompanied by friends and well-wishers
waving torches, singing, and playing instruments. Once the
bride and groom had gone in for the night, musical
celebrations outside the house could last all night. One of
the most famous composers of wedding songs was the poet
Sappho, and there are several mentions of the use of music
in wedding celebrations in her poetry. Music was also used
to accompany all kinds of work, from women's household
chores to songs that accompanied reaping and the treading of
grapes for wine. Athletic competitions were another
important forum for musical expression, and there was a
unique relationship between athletics, specifically
gymnastics, and music. Education in music and gymnastics was
considered by the ancient Greeks to balance each other, to
create an ideal mixture of strength and artistic
sensitivity. Music even played a part in war, and Corinthian
vases from the seventh century depict a piper accompanying
lines of warriors into battle. This list of poetry types is
not meant to be exhaustive yet it is still clear that poetry
and music were essential in many aspects of Greek culture,
religion, entertainment, as well as in the perpetuation and
reaffirmation of cultural beliefs and values. These are
goals in common with much popular culture today.
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stressed that students "employing that simple
music which we said engendered sobriety will thus [...]
guard themselves against needing the justice of the
courtroom." Plato, convinced that the young were liable to
believe anything, was concerned that performers who imitated
emotions such as cowardliness ran the risk of becoming a
coward or, even worse, would influence their audience to
behave in a similar manner. Writing after Plato, the
philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was much more positive
in his opinion of the role of different kinds of music, even
those types of music rejected by Plato. Aristotle held that
each type of music had a purpose, and that even the tragic
drama that conveyed violent passions could have a cathartic
effect on the listener.
