Terpander ( ''Terpandros''), of Antissa in

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 ...

, was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

citharede 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 Sappho ...

who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC. He was the father of Greek music and through it, of

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

, although his own poetical compositions were few and in extremely simple rhythms. He simplified rules of the

modes Mode ( meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * MO''D''E (magazine), a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is the setting fo ...

of singing of other neighboring countries and islands and formed, out of these syncopated variants, a conceptual system. Though endowed with an inventive mind, and the commencer of a new era of music, he attempted no more than to systematize the

musical style Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

s that existed in the music of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

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 ...

. Terpander is perhaps the earliest historically certain figure in the

music of Ancient Greece Music was almost universally present in ancient Greece, ancient Greek society, from marriages, funerals, and Religion in ancient Greece, religious ceremonies to Theatre of ancient Greece, theatre, folk music, and the ballad-like reciting of epic ...

Biography

He gained a reputation as a singer and composer, but after having killed a man in a brawl, he was exiled. About the time of the

Second Messenian War The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta, with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century.L. G. Pechatnova, ''A History of Sparta (Archaic ...

, he settled in

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 ...

, to where, according to some accounts, he had been summoned by command of the

Delphic Oracle Pythia (; ) was the title of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness. The Pythia w ...

to compose the differences that had arisen between different classes in the state. Here he gained the prize in the musical contests at the festival of Carneia. He is regarded as the real founder of Greek classical music and lyric poetry, but as to his innovations in music, our information is imperfect. According to

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, he increased the number of strings in the lyre from four to seven; others take the fragment of Terpander on which Strabo bases his statement to mean that he developed the citharoedic nomos (sung to the accompaniment of the

cithara The kithara (), Latinized as cithara, was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the yoke lutes family. It was a seven-stringed professional version of the lyre, which was regarded as a rustic, or folk instrument, appropriate for teaching mus ...

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 ...

) by making the divisions of the ode seven instead of four. The seven-stringed lyre was probably already in existence. Terpander is also said to have introduced several new rhythms in addition to the dactylic and to have been famous as a composer of drinking-songs ( skolia). No poems attributed to Terpander survive complete, and very few lines of his are quoted by later Greek writers; it must be regarded as doubtful whether he worked in writing. Terpander is said to have died, around Skiades ("shady place" of the Carneia), by choking on a fig when the fruit was thrown in appreciation of one of his performances.

Notes

References

*
1890 version

External links

* * {{Authority control Ancient Greek musicians Poets from ancient Lesbos Ancient Greek lyric poets Oral poets Ancient Greek inventors Ancient Greek emigrants Culture of Sparta Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Ancient singers People from Eresos-Antissa 7th-century BC Greek poets 7th-century BC musicians

Biography

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links