Search Results: Lyre

The lyre was a stringed musical instrument played by the ancient Greeks. It was probably the most important and well-known instrument in the Greek world. The lyre was closely related to the other stringed instruments: the chelys which was...

Join World History Encyclopedia as they talk to Michael Levy, a prolific composer of the ancient lyre all about his inspiration and knowledge of the instrument. If you want to hear Michael perform, be sure to check out our video interview...

Music (or mousike) was an integral part of life in the ancient Greek world, and the term covered not only music but also dance, lyrics, and the performance of poetry. A wide range of instruments was used to perform music which was played...

Join World History Encyclopedia as they talk to Michael Levy, a prolific composer of the ancient lyre and kithara all about his inspiration and knowledge of the instrument. There are a few tortoiseshell lyres that survived, like the Elgin...

Orpheus is a figure from ancient Greek mythology, most famous for his virtuoso ability in playing the lyre or kithara. His music could charm the wild animals of the forest, and even streams would pause and trees bend a little closer to hear...

A fresco from the throne room of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos, often referred to as the 'Orpheus Fresco' depicts a seated lyre player and a bird in flight. It dates to c. 1300 BCE and this watercolour reconstruction was completed by Piet...

A young male tunes his tortoise-shell lyre, and a hare waits in anticipation. Fragmentary Kylix, c. 480 BCE. (Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens)

This lyre was found in the 'Great Death-Pit', one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Early dynastic period, 2600-2400 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

This is the finest among all lyres found at the Royal Cemetry at Ur and was given to the Iraq Museum; the other lyres were divided between the British Museum in the UK and the Penn Museum in the USA. The head of this bull is a replica and...

Sappho of Lesbos (l. c. 620-570 BCE) was a lyric poet whose work was so popular in ancient Greece that she was honored in statuary, coinage, and pottery centuries after her death. Little remains of her work, and these fragments suggest she...