Limenius
Encyclopedia
Limenius was an Athenian
musician and the creator of the Second Delphic Hymn
in 128 BC
. He is the earliest known composer in recorded history for a surviving piece of music. Limenius was a performer on the kithara and, as a professional musician performing in the Pythaïs (the liturgical embassy to the cult centre of Pythian Apollo
at Delphi
), he was required to belong to one of the guilds of the Artists of Dionysus
(Anderson and Mathiesen 2001).
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
musician and the creator of the Second Delphic Hymn
Delphic Hymns
The Delphic Hymns are two musical compositions from Ancient Greece, which survive in substantial fragments. They were long regarded as being dated circa 138 BCE and 128 BCE, respectively, but recent scholarship has shown it likely they were both written for performance at the Athenian...
in 128 BC
128 BC
Year 128 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Rufus...
. He is the earliest known composer in recorded history for a surviving piece of music. Limenius was a performer on the kithara and, as a professional musician performing in the Pythaïs (the liturgical embassy to the cult centre of Pythian Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
at Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
), he was required to belong to one of the guilds of the Artists of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
(Anderson and Mathiesen 2001).
Sources
- Anderson, Warren, and Thomas J. Mathiesen. 2001. "Limenius". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.
- Pöhlmann, Egert, and Martin L. West. 2001. Documents of Ancient Greek Music: The Extant Melodies and Fragments. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 019815223X