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What does a kithara look like?
The kithara, an instrument of the lyre family, had seven strings of equal length and a solidly built, wooden body, usually with a flat base. Strings of gut or sinew were stretched from a holder at the base of the instrument over a bridge to the crossbar that joined the two sidepieces.
How did the Greeks view music?
For the ancient Greeks, music was viewed as quite literally a gift from the gods. The invention of specific instruments is attributed to particular deities: Hermes the lyre, Pan the syrinx (panpipes) and Athena the aulos (flute).
What language is kithara?
The cithara (or Latinized kithara) (Greek: κιθάρα, romanized: kithāra, Latin: cithara) was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the yoke lutes family. In modern Greek the word kithara has come to mean “guitar”, a word which etymologically stems from kithara.
Who invented kithara?
The kithara (guitar) was a stringed musical instrument, related to the lyre, played by the ancient Greeks and closely associated with the god Apollo, although in mythology its invention is attributed to Hermes who manufactured the instrument from a tortoise shell (chelys).
What does the word kithara mean?
Definition of kithara : an ancient Greek stringed instrument similar to but larger than the lyre and having a box-shaped resonator.
When did the kithara first appear?
2000 bc) an asymmetrical, plectrum-plucked instrument held horizontally and (from c. 1000 bc) a smaller symmetrical lyre played upright. The Hebrew kinnor was also a box lyre.
Who developed ancient Greek music theory?
One of the most important music theorists in Ancient Greece was Aristoxenus, the son of a professional musician from Tarentum. Aristoxenus studied with Aristotle in Athens and applied his logical techniques to both the art and science of music, leaving several collections of writings from the 4th century BCE.
What does kithara mean in English?
How is the kithara played?
In solos, the fingers of both hands sometimes plucked the strings. The kithara was held upright or inclined toward the player, its weight often supported by an over-the-shoulder or wrist-to-yoke armband.
Why was the lyre important?
The lyre was played either alone or as an accompaniment to singing or lyric poetry at all manner of occasions such as official banquets, symposia (private drinking parties), religious ceremonies, funerals, and in musical competitions such as those held at the great Panathanaia, Pythia, and Karneia festivals.
Who was the god of music in Greek mythology?
Apollo
Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The national divinity of the Greeks, Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more.
What is Cithara kin?
Cithara (Assyrian chetarah; Gr. κιθάρα; Lat. cithara; perhaps Heb. kinura, kinnor), one of the most ancient stringed instruments, traced back to 1700 B.C. among the Semitic races, in Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor, Greece and the Roman empire, whence continued use of it spread over Europe.
Is a lyre the same as a guitar?
The lyre of classical antiquity was ordinarily played by being strummed like a guitar or a zither, rather than being plucked with the fingers as with a harp. A pick called a plectrum was held in one hand, while the fingers of the free hand silenced the unwanted strings.
What does lyre mean in the Bible?
kinnor, ancient Hebrew lyre, the musical instrument of King David. According to the Roman Jewish historian Josephus (1st century ad), it resembled the Greek kithara (i.e., having broad arms of a piece with the boxlike neck), and kinnor was translated as “kithara” in both the Greek Old Testament and the Latin Bible.