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The Heritage of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East

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The spread of the Linus-song (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list) Types of song 05 Scientific knowledge and scholarly lore 05.09 Music and musical theory 05.09.04 Types of song	Keywords linus music
Period 5th century BCE Greek Classical Age	Channel Greek philosophers and scholars

Text
Herodotus 2.79:
Among other notable customs of theirs [sc., the Egyptians] is this, that they have one song, the Linus-song, which is sung in Phoenicia and Cyprus and elsewhere. Each nation has a name of its own for this, but it happens to be the same song that the Greeks sing, and call Linus.

(the Greek Linus is a song of lament, sung in an attenuated voice)

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Herodotus 2.79

Bibliography

West 1992, 45-46

West, Martin L. Ancient Greek Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1992.

Links (external links will open in a new browser window)
Cf. Mesopotamia and the Greek music (1)
Cf. The spread of the harp (1)
Cf. The spread of the lute (1)
Cf. The spread of pipes (1)
Cf. The stringing of the lyre (1)

Erik van Dongen

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001476.php

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