Music and the Muses: The Culture of ’mousikē’ in the Classical Athenian City

Description

This book explores the role of mousike, the realm of the Muses, in Greek life. More wide-ranging in its implications than the English ‘music’, mousike lay at the heart of Greek culture, and was often indeed synonymous with culture. In its commonest form it represented for the Greeks a seamless complex of music, poetry, song, and dance, encompassing a vast array of performances — from small-scale entertainment in the private home to elaborate performances involving the entire community. Yet the history of the field has been hitherto narrowly conceived, and the broader cultural significance of mousike largely ignored. Focusing mainly on classical Athens, these chapters analyse the theory and practice of musical performance in a variety of social contexts and demonstrate the centrality of mousike to the values and ideology of the polis. Topics covered include the so-called ‘new musical revolution’ in late 5th-century Athens, the musical and performative dimension of Greek religion, the ethical and philosophical aspects of Athenian mousike, and its role in the formation of social values through education or paideia. The book as a whole provides an integrated cultural analysis of central aspects of Greek mousike and furthers our understanding of the power of music as a cultural phenomenon. Front Matter Introduction: Mousikē, not Music Penelope Murray and Peter Wilson Part I MOUSIKĒ AND RELIGION 1 Muses and Mysteries Alex Hardie 2 Changing Choral Worlds: Song-Dance and Society in Athens and Beyond Barbara Kowalzig 3 (Xen. Mem. 3.3.12): Song-Dance and State-Pilgrimage at Athens Ian Rutherford 4 Dancing the Pyrrhichē in Athens Paola Ceccarelli Part II MOUSIKĒ ON STAGE 5 Choral Prayer in Greek Tragedy: Euphemia or Aischrologia? Eva Stehle 6 Choral Forms in Aristophanic Comedy: Musical Mimesis and Dramatic Performance in Classical Athens Claude Calame 7 Transforming the Nightingale: Aspects of Athenian Musical Discourse in the Late Fifth Century Andrew Barker Part III THE POLITICS OF MOUSIKĒ 8 The Politics of the New Music Eric Csapo 9 Damon of Oa: A Music Theorist Ostracized? Robert W. Wallace 10 Athenian Strings Peter Wilson Part IV MOUSIKĒ AND PAIDEIA 11 Catharsis: The Power of Music in Aristotle’s Politics Andrew Ford 12 Dirty Dancing: Xenophon’s Symposium Victoria Wohl 13 The Muses and their Arts Penelope Murray End Matter