Description

Let me not live without music.

—Euripides, Heracles 676

Music permeated every aspect of ancient Greek life. It possessed quasi-divine power to abate strife or bring healing. In myth, the sound of the lyre could build cities, or calm monsters; in daily life it could summon memory or take one out of one’s time frame and guide one into the tales of the past. Song accompanied the rhythms of daily labour as well as sport, formed the basis of lively competitive contexts throughout the ancient world and is still discernible in the language of Greek texts, musical writings, surviving notation, and images of instruments—making the soundtrack of the ancient world more tangible than was formerly imagined.

Today Classical scholarship on ancient music is flourishing. Instruments have been recreated and ancient musical notation has been recovered so that performances of fragments of ancient music can now occur with reasonable accuracy. With so many resources at our fingertips, there has never been a more exciting time to enhance your understanding of the ancient world by studying its core: the divine voice of the muse—mousikē.

Over 8 weeks (or an octave!) in this course you will:

• Gain a more nuanced understanding of the Greek texts that you love through the language of musical elements that are often missed in translation 
• Learn the history and function of Greek instruments and be able to identify them in both art and literature
• Discover the basics of the modes of Greek music 
• Observe how the thinking of the ancient Greeks on music affects our interpretation of their texts, history and philosophy and how these traditions impacted what became known as modern Western music

This course is conducted via Zoom. Classes will meet for 90 minutes each week on on Tuesdays at 18:00 (GMT) on 14th January, 21st January, 28th January, 4th February, (mid-term break on 11th February), 18th February, 25th February, 4th March, and 11th March 2025.

Tutor: Lauren Heilman.

The class will proceed subject to a minimum number of enrolments.

Cancellation policy: students will receive a full refund if the student cancels their registration more than two weeks before the class begins. Students will receive 50% refund if the student cancels their registration 8-14 days before the class begins.