Phrynnis or Phrynis ( or ) of

Mytilene Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of the Aegean. It was fo ...

was a celebrated

dithyramb The dithyramb (; , ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in '' The Laws'', while discussing various kinds of music m ...

ic poet of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, who lived roughly around the time of the

Peloponnesian War The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...

. His career began no later than 446 BCE. Phrynnis was born in Mytilene, on the island 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 ...

, but later lived and made his career at

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. His father's name seems to have been "Camon" or "Cambon" but the true form is very doubtful. Respecting his own name, also, there is some doubt among scholars, but the form "Phrynnis" is the genuine

Aeolic Greek In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anat ...

form. He belonged to the

Lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

school of citharoedic music, having been taught music by Aristocleides, a musician of the time of the Persian Wars, who claimed a lineal descent from the renowned

Terpander Terpander ( ''Terpandros''), of Antissa in Lesbos Island, Lesbos, was a Ancient Greece, Greek poet and citharede who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC. He was the father of Greek music and through it, of lyric poetry, although his o ...

. Before receiving the instructions of this musician, Phrynnis had been a flute-player, which may partly account for the liberties he took with the music of the cithara. His innovations and affectations are repeatedly attacked by the comic poets, especially Pherecrates and

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

. Among the innovations which he is said to have made, was the addition of two strings to the heptachord; and

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

relates that, when he went to

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, the

Ephor The ephors were a board of five magistrates in ancient Sparta. They had an extensive range of judicial, religious, legislative, and military powers, and could shape Sparta's home and foreign affairs. The word "''ephors''" (Ancient Greek ''éph ...

s cut off two of his nine strings, only leaving him the choice whether he would sacrifice the two lowest or the two highest. Some scholars consider this anecdote doubtful; for it is not improbable that the number of strings had been increased at an earlier period. What is not controversial is that Phrynnis earned the ire of these poets owing to his technique of "bending" or "turning" (''kampai'') the melody, a modulation that other poets thought "ruined" the music. Phrynnis was the first who gained the victory in the musical contests established by

Pericles Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...

, in connection with the festivals of the

Panathenaic Games The Panathenaic Games () were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece from 566 BC to the 3rd century AD. These Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony (including prize-giving), athletic competitions, and cultural events hosted ...

, probably in 445 BCE. Karl Otfried Müller, ''Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur bis auf das Zeitalter Alexanders'' vol. ii. p. 286 He was one of the instructors of

Timotheus of Miletus Timotheus of Miletus (; c. 446 – 357 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek musician and dithyrambic poet, an exponent of the "new music." He added one or more strings to the lyre, whereby he incurred the displeasure of the Spartans and Athens, Athenia ...

, who, however, defeated him on one occasion. An ahistorical version of Phrynnis was used as a main character in the treatise called ''Phynnis Mitilenaeus'' by German musician and writer Wolfgang Printz in the 1670s. This was a sort of moral screed against "beer fiddlers", or Printz's caricature of "overly sensual" musicians.

References

{{DGRBM, author=PS, title= Phrynnis , volume=3, page=361, url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0003.001/369 Ancient Greek musicians Ancient Mytileneans Ancient Greek dithyrambic poets 5th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC Greek poets 5th-century BC musicians