ABSTRACT
A GLOSSARY OF TERMS REFERRING TO MUSIC IN GREEK LITERATURE BEFORE 400 B.C.

Otto Christoph Steinmayer
Yale University
1985

Previous research into ancient Greek music has concentrated upon the study of theoretical writings which survive mainly from later antiquity. This dissertation examines the literary works of the archaic and classical periods for all references to music, with intent to discover information on how the Greeks perceived music as sound and as emotion, and any possible technical information. The few extended passages referring to music have already been treated by other scholars. Still, the bulk of all references to music in this period are very brief, and  the interpretation of single words is crucial to many points. Hence I have chosen the glossary form as the most efficient method of presenting this research.

The musical terms fall into four main groups: a) names of instruments, b) technical terms, c) verbs of singing and playing and nouns which designate sounds, and d) adjectives describing how the timbre, range, or emotion of music was perceived. I have discussed all these in the light of their etymology and of their usage throughout our period. The results of the entire survey resist summary. On the one hand, we can gather no information on the shapes and conventions of melody or the pitch structure of scales. Technical vocabulary is minimal. Yet there are many words describing the timbre and emotion of music, and the changes in this vocabulary through time allow us vaguely to trace the development of styles from archaic to that of the New Music. A wealth of evidence indicates how keenly the Greeks felt music as a joy of life.

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