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Kithara 1
Kithara
Apollo Citharoedus with kithara
The kithara or cithara (Greek: , kithra, Latin: cithara) was
an
ancient Greek musical instrument in the lyre or lyra family. In
modern Greek
the word kithara has come to mean "guitar" (a word whose origins
are found
in kithara).
The kithara was a professional version of the two-stringed lyre.
As opposed to
the simpler lyre, which was a folk-instrument, the kithara was
primarily used
by professional musicians, called kitharodes. The kithara's
origins are likely
Asiatic.[1]
The barbiton was a bass version of the kithara[2]
popular in the
eastern Aegean and ancient Asia Minor.
Construction
Jewish vase drawing depicting a man
playing a kithara with eight strings.
The kithara had a deep, wooden sounding box composed of two
resonating
tables, either flat or slightly arched, connected by ribs or
sides of equal
width. At the top, its strings were knotted around the crossbar
or yoke
(zugon) or to rings threaded over the bar, or wound around pegs.
The otherend of the strings was secured to a tail-piece after
passing over a flat bridge,
or the tail-piece and bridge were combined. Most vase paintings
show
kitharas with seven strings, in agreement with ancient authors,
but these
also mention that occasionally a skillful kitharode would use
more than the
conventional seven strings.
It was played with a rigid plectrum (or more modernly called
pick) held in
the right hand, with elbow outstretched and palm bent inwards,
while the
strings with undesired notes were damped with the straightened
fingers of
the left hand.
Uses
The kithara was played primarily to accompany dances and epic
recitations, rhapsodies, odes, and lyric songs.[2]
It
was also played solo at the receptions, banquets, national
games, and trials of skill. The music from this instrument
was said to be the lyre for drinking parties and is considered
an invention of Terpander. Aristotle said that these
string instruments were not for educational purposes but for
pleasure only.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terpanderhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Symposiumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lyrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plectrumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kitharodehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sounding_boxhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ABritannica_Cithara_Phorminx.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Asia_Minorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aegean_Seahttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbitonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kitharodehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lyrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modern_Greekhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lyrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musical_instrumenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_Greekhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Latin_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greek_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AApollo_Musagetes_Pio-Clementino_Inv310.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apollo_Citharoedus
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Kithara 2
Alcaeus of Mytilene playing a kithara while Sappho listens
by
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1881). The Walters Art Museum.
The kithara was the virtuoso's instrument, generally
known as taking a great deal of skill.[3]
Sappho is closely associated with music, especially
string instruments like the kithara and the barbitos. She
was a woman of high social standing and composed
songs that focused on the emotions. A Greekmythology story goes
that she ascended the steep
slopes of Mount Parnassus where she was welcomed by
the Muses. She wandered through the laurel grove and
came upon the cave of Apollo, where she bathed in the
Castalian Spring and took Phoebus' plectrum to play
skillful music. The sacred nymphs danced while she stroked the
strings with much talent to bring forth sweet musical
melodies from the resonant kithara.[4]
Notes[1] Maas & Snyder (1989) pg. 185
[2] M. L. West. (1992).Ancient Greek Music. ISBN 0-19-814975-1.
Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
[3] Aristotle calls it an organon technikon Politics (1341a)
[4] W. D. Anderson. (1994).Music and Musicians in Ancient
Greece. ISBN 0-8014-3083-6. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press.
Sources
Kithara in Ancient Greece
(http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kith/hd_kith.htm/The),
Metropolitan
Museum of Art
Bundrick, Sheramy D. Music and Image in Classical Athens. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Maas, Martha, and Jane McIntosh Snyder. Stringed Instruments of
Ancient Greece. New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 1989.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cithara".Encyclopdia Britannica
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
Sound examples from reconstructed ancient instruments
(http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agm)
Media related to Citharas at Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/category:Citharashttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Commons-logo.svghttp://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Editionhttps://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%E6%A4%A9a_Britannica/Citharahttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svghttp://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kith/hd_kith.htm/Thehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nymphshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plectrumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phoebushttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castalian_Springhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apollohttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lauraceaehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Museshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mount_Parnassushttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greek_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greek_mythologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbitoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sapphohttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ASir_Lawrence_Alma-Tadema%2C_RA%2C_OM_-_Sappho_and_Alcaeus_-_Walters_37159.jpghttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Walters_Art_Museumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lawrence_Alma-Tademahttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alcaeus_of_Mytilene
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Article Sources and Contributors 3
Article Sources and ContributorsKithara Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=539719957 Contributors:
Fraggle81, Francis mangels, In ictu oculi, Jacqke, Jeccabreen,
Keinstein, Mblevy, MrOllie, PBS-AWB,
Spettro9, The Man in Question, 13 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Apollo Musagetes
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License: Public Domain
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License: unknown Contributors: Bob Burkhardt, Frank C.
Mller
Image:Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, RA, OM - Sappho and Alcaeus -
Walters 37159.jpg Source:
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License: Public Domain Contributors: Boo-Boo Baroo,
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License: logo Contributors: Guillom, INeverCry, Jarekt,
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