The kithara (), Latinized as cithara, was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

in the

yoke lutes Yoke lutes, commonly called lyres, are a class of string instruments, subfamily of lutes, indicated with the codes 321.21 and 321.22 in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification. Description Yoke lutes are defined as instruments with one or more s ...

family. It was a seven-stringed professional version of the

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

, which was regarded as a rustic, or

folk instrument A folk instrument is a traditional musical instrument that has remained largely restricted to traditional folk music, and is not usually used in the classical music or other elite and formal musical genres of the culture concerned, though relate ...

, appropriate for teaching music to beginners. As opposed to the simpler

, the cithara was primarily used by professional musicians, called

kitharode A kitharode ( Latinized citharode) ( and ; ) or citharist, was a classical Greek professional performer (singer) of the cithara, as one who used the cithara to accompany their singing. Famous citharodes included Terpander, Sappho, and Arion. ...

s. In

modern Greek Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

, the word ''kithara'' has come to mean "

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

", a word which

etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

stems from ''kithara''.

Origin and uses

Fresco of women listening to a private musical performance

The cithara originated from

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

- Mycenaean

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

-neck lyres developed and used during the Aegean Bronze Age. Scholars such as

M.L. West Martin Litchfield West, (23 September 1937 – 13 July 2015) was a British philologist and classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was appointed to the Order of Merit in 2014. West wrote on ancient Greek music, ...

, Martha Maas, and Jane M. Snyder have made connections between the cithara and stringed instruments from ancient

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Whereas the basic

lyra , from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star ...

was widely used as a teaching instrument in boys’ schools, the cithara was a virtuoso's instrument and generally known as requiring a great deal of skill.: Aristotle calls the cithara an ''organon technikon''. The cithara was played primarily to accompany dance, epic recitations, rhapsodies, odes, and lyric songs. It was also played solo at the receptions, banquets, national games, and trials of skill. Aristotle said that these string instruments were not for educational purposes but for pleasure only. It was played by strumming the strings with a stiff

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

made of dried leather, held in the right hand with elbow outstretched and palm bent inwards. The strings with undesired notes were damped with the straightened fingers of the left hand.

Construction

The cithara had a deep, wooden

sound box A sound box or sounding box (sometimes written soundbox) is an open chamber in the body of a musical instrument which modifies the sound of the instrument, and helps transfer that sound to the surrounding air. Objects respond more strongly to vibr ...

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 other ends of the strings were secured to a tail-piece after passing over a flat bridge, or the tail-piece and bridge were combined. Most vase paintings show citharas with seven strings, in agreement with ancient authors, but those same authors also mention that occasionally an especially skillful

would use more than the conventional seven strings.

Apollo as a kitharode

The cithara is said to have been the invention of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, the god of music.

is often depicted playing a cithara instead of a lyre, often dressed in a

’s formal robes. ''Kitharoidos'', or ''Citharoedus'', is an epithet given to Apollo, which means "lyre-singer" or "one who sings to the lyre". An ''

Apollo Citharoedus An Apollo Citharoedus, or Apollo Citharede, is a statue or other image of Apollo with a cithara (lyre). Notable examples Vatican Among the best-known examples is the ''Apollo Citharoedus'', also known as Apollo Musagetes ("Apollo, Leader of the ...

'' or ''Apollo Citharede'', is the term for a type of statue or other image of Apollo with a cithara. Among the best-known examples is the Apollo Citharoedus at the

Vatican Museum The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

s, a 2nd-century CE colossal marble statue by an unknown Roman sculptor.

Famous cithara players

Phrynnis Phrynnis or Phrynis ( or ) of Mytilene was a celebrated dithyrambic poet of ancient Greece, who lived roughly around the time of the Peloponnesian War. His career began no later than 446 BCE. Phrynnis was born in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, ...

() of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

: The ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'' mentions that Phrynnis was the first to play the cithara at Athens and won at the

Panathenaea The Panathenaea (or Panathenaia) was a multi-day ancient Greek festival held annually in Athens that would always conclude on 28 Hekatombaion, the first month of the Attic calendar.Shear, Julia L. "Hadrian, the Panathenaia, and the Athenian Cale ...

; by cithara is probably meant the new 12-stringed instrument invented by

Melanippides Melanippides of Melos (), one of the most celebrated lyric poets in the use of dithyramb, and an exponent of the "new music." Biography The life of Melanippides can only be fixed within rather uncertain limits. He is thought to have flourished aro ...

of Melos. *

Athenodoros of Teos Athenodoros () of Teos was a musician of ancient Greece who lived in the 4th century BCE. He was known as a player on the kithara, and was one of the performers who assisted at the festivities celebrated at the Susa weddings in 324 BCE, on the oc ...

, who played at the

Susa weddings The Susa weddings were arranged by Alexander the Great in 324 BCE, shortly after he conquered the Achaemenid Empire. In an attempt to wed Greek culture with Persian culture, he and his officers held a large gathering at Susa and took Persian nob ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Other instruments called "cithara"

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, ''

cythara The cythara is a wide group of stringed instruments of medieval and Renaissance Europe, including not only the lyre and harp but also necked, string instruments. In fact, unless a medieval document gives an indication that it meant a necked inst ...

'' was also used generically for stringed instruments, including lyres, but also including

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

-like instruments. The use of the name throughout the Middle Ages looked back to the original Greek cithara, and its abilities to sway people's emotions.

Biblical references

An instrument called the ''

kinnor Kinnor ( ''kīnnōr'') is an ancient Israelite musical instrument in the yoke lutes family, the first one to be mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Its exact identification is unclear, but in the modern day it is generally translated as "harp" or ...

'' is mentioned a number of times in the Bible, generally translated into English as "harp" or "psaltery", but historically rendered as "cithara". Psalm 42 in the Latin Vulgate (Psalm 43 in other versions), says, : ''"Confitebor tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus meus,"'' which is translated in the Douay-Rheims version as : "To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp." The King James version renders this verse as : "Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God." The cithara is also mentioned in other places in the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, including Genesis 4:21, 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 16:16, 1 Paralipomenon (1 Chronicles) 25:3, Job 30:31, Psalms 32:2, Psalms 56:9, Psalms 70:22, Psalms 80:3, Psalms 91:4, Psalms 97:5, Psalms 107:3, Psalms 146:7, Psalms 150:3, Isaiah 5:12, Isaiah 16:11, 1 Machabees 3:45, and 1 Corinthians 14:7. The ''kaithros'' mentioned in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...

may have been the same instrument.

Gallery

File:Kitharaspieler Kreta asb 2004 PICT3430.JPG, Bronze figurine from Crete, File:Citharoedus-bp.jpg, Kithara player by the

Berlin Painter The Berlin Painter (active c. 490–460s BC) is the conventional name given to an Attic Greek vase painters who is widely regarded as among the most talented of his time. There are no painter signatures on any of the Berlin Painter's attributed ...

File:Providence Painter - ARV 637 29 - Nike flying with kithara - draped youth - Wien KHM AS IV 698 - 03.jpg,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

flying with kithara by the Providence Painter, BC File:Achilles Painter - ARV 997 155 - two Muses on mount Helikon - München AS SCH 80 - 13 (cropped for Kithara).jpg, Kithara player 445–435 BC from vase, painting by the

Achilles Painter The Achilles Painter was a vase-painter active ca. 470–425 BC. His name vase is an amphora, Vatican 16571, in the Vatican Museums depicting Achilles and dated 450–445 BC. An armed and armored Achilles gazes pensively to the right with one ...

File:Muse lyre Louvre CA482.jpg,

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

tuning two phorminges. The

phorminx :''Phorminx is also a genus of cylindrical bark beetles.'' The ''phorminx'' () was one of the oldest of the Ancient Greek stringed musical instruments, in the yoke lutes family, intermediate between the lyre and the kithara. It consisted of tw ...

was an intermediate stage, as the cithara developed from the lyre. Detail from an Attic

white-ground White-ground technique is a style of white ancient Pottery of ancient Greece, Greek pottery and the Greek vase painting, painting in which figures appear on a white background. It developed in the region of Attica, dated to about 500 BC. It was ...

cup from

Eretria Eretria (; , , , , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th century BC, mentioned by many famous writers ...

, . File:Relief slab depicting Apollo, Marsyas, a Scythian (4th cent. B.C.), National Archaeological Museum of Athens (21 June 2018).jpg, Apollo and

Marsyas In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; ) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe (''aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of ...

, 4th century BC File:P. Fannius Synistor anagoria links.JPG, A Roman representation of a woman playing the ''cithara'' (

Villa Boscoreale Villa Boscoreale is a name given to any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy. They were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The only one vi ...

, BC). File:LYCIAN LEAGUE, Cragus, Hemidrachm, reverse.jpg, Cithara on the reverse of a hemidrachm from Cragus (

Lycian League Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğla ...

). File:Wall painting - Apollon seated with cithara - Rome (Palatine - house of Augustus) - Roma AdP 379982.jpg, Apollo Kitharoidos. Painted plaster, Roman artwork from the Augustan period. File:Wall painting - concert - Herculaneum (ins or II - palaestra) - Napoli MAN 9021 (cropped for lyre).jpg, 1st century AD,

Herculaneum Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Like the nearby city of ...

. Woman playing kithara; 2 straps are visible that holds the instrument up while she uses both hands to play (one blue, one yellow). File:Orpheus2.jpg, Orpheus Mosaic in Rottweil File:Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, RA, OM - Sappho and Alcaeus - Walters 37159.jpg,

Alcaeus of Mytilene Alcaeus of Mytilene (; , ''Alkaios ho Mutilēnaios''; – BC) was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos who is credited with inventing the Alcaic stanza. He was included in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of H ...

playing a cithara while Sappho listens in ''

Sappho and Alcaeus ''Sappho and Alcaeus'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch-British artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema, from 1881. It is held by the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore. Description The painting measures . It depicts a concert in the late 7th centur ...

'' by

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema ( ; born Lourens Alma Tadema, ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom, becoming the last officially recognised Denization, denizen in 1873. Born in ...

(1881;

The Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially by major American art an ...

). File:George Lawrence Bulleid, 1905 - Girl with lute.jpg, ''Girl with Lute'' by George Lawrence Bulleid, 1905 File:A modern reconstruction of an ancient Greek kithara, in Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology.jpg, A reconstruction of the so-called Apollo's kithara in Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, Athens, Greece.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Peter Pringle demonstrates how a kithara worked
* A music group directed by scholar

Annie Bélis Annie Bélis (born 1951) is a French archaeologist, philologist, papyrologist and musician. She is a research director at the French CNRS, specialized in music from classical antiquity, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Career A former student ...

, dedicated to the recreation of ancient Greek and Roman music and playing instruments rebuilt on archaeological reference. In its recording ''D'Euripide aux premiers chretiens: musique de l'antiquité grecque et romaine'', the band plays both Roman and Greek kitharas. {{Authority control Ancient Greek musical instruments Ancient Hebrew musical instruments Lyres Sacred musical instruments