Olympus (or
Olympos, ) was a musician from
ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
. The name is given to two musicians, one mythical who lived before the
Trojan warIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, and one apparently real, who lived in the
7th century BCThe 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the near east during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to...
. Both musicians were connected with the
auletic music, which had its origin in
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
. It is possible that the elder and mythical Olympus was invented through some mistake respecting the younger and historical Olympus.
The elder Olympus belongs to the mythical genealogy of Mysian and
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
n flute-players - Hyagnis,
MarsyasIn Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double flute that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life...
, Olympus — to each of whom the invention of the flute was ascribed, and under whose names we have the mythical representation of the contest between the Phrygian
auletic and the
GreekThe Culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in the Mycenaean and Minoan Civilizations, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its Greek Eastern successor the Byzantine Empire...
citharoedic music: some writers made him the father (instead of son, or disciple, and favourite of Marsyas), but the genealogy given above was that more generally received.
Olympus (or
Olympos, ) was a musician from
ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
. The name is given to two musicians, one mythical who lived before the
Trojan warIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, and one apparently real, who lived in the
7th century BCThe 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the near east during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to...
. Both musicians were connected with the
auletic music, which had its origin in
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
. It is possible that the elder and mythical Olympus was invented through some mistake respecting the younger and historical Olympus.
Mythical Olympus
The elder Olympus belongs to the mythical genealogy of Mysian and
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
n flute-players - Hyagnis,
MarsyasIn Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double flute that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life...
, Olympus — to each of whom the invention of the flute was ascribed, and under whose names we have the mythical representation of the contest between the Phrygian
auletic and the
GreekThe Culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in the Mycenaean and Minoan Civilizations, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, through the influence of the Roman Empire and its Greek Eastern successor the Byzantine Empire...
citharoedic music: some writers made him the father (instead of son, or disciple, and favourite of Marsyas), but the genealogy given above was that more generally received. Olympus was said to have been a native of
MysiaMysia was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia . It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, Troad on the west and by the Propontis on the north...
, and to have lived before the
Trojan warIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. The compositions ascribed to him were old melodies appropriated to the worship of particular
godsGods as the plural of god, is a synonym of "deities", indicating a context of polytheism.* God * Goddess* List of deitiesproper names* The gods , the upper levels of a theatre* The Gods , a rock band from England...
, the origin of which was so ancient as to be unknown, like those which were attributed to
OlenOlen was a legendary early poet from Lycia who went to Delos, where his hymns celebrating the first handmaidens of Apollo in the island of the god's birth and other "ancient hymns" were still part of the cult at Delos in the time of Herodotus:...
and
PhilammonIn Greek mythology, Philammon was the son of Chione and Apollo. He was an excellent musician, a talent he received from his father. He had two children, Eumolpus and Thamyris....
. Olympus not unfrequently appears on works of art, as a boy, sometimes instructed by Marsyas, and sometimes as witnessing and lamenting his fate.
Real Olympus
The true Olympus was a Phrygian, and perhaps belonged to a family of native musicians, since he was said to be descended from the first Olympus. He is placed by
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
at the head of
auletic music, as
TerpanderTerpander , of Antissa in Lesbos, was a Greek poet and citharede who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC.About the time of the Second Messenian War, he settled in Sparta, whither, according to some accounts, he had been summoned by command of the Delphic Oracle, to compose the...
stood at the head of the
citharoedic: and on account of his inventions in the art, Plutarch even assigns to him, rather than to Terpander, the honour of being the father of Greek music. With respect to his age, the
SudaThe Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century historical encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly wrongfully attributed to an author called Suidas. The text belongs to the Byzantine Empire and was written in Greek...
places him under a king Midas, son of Gordius; but this tells us nothing, for these were alternately the names of all the Phrygian kings to the time of
CroesusCroesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 546 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
. He may have lived after
TerpanderTerpander , of Antissa in Lesbos, was a Greek poet and citharede who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC.About the time of the Second Messenian War, he settled in Sparta, whither, according to some accounts, he had been summoned by command of the Delphic Oracle, to compose the...
and before Thaletas, that is, between the 30th and 40th Olympiads, 660-620 BC. Though a Phrygian by origin, Olympus must be reckoned among the Greek musicians; for all the accounts make Greece the scene of his artistic activity, and his subjects Greek; and he had Greek disciples, such as Crates and Hierax. He may, in fact, be considered as having naturalized in
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
the music of the
fluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, which had previously been almost peculiar to Phrygia. This species of music admitted of much greater variations than that of the
lyreThe lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by lyre playing. The lyre of Classical Antiquity was ordinarily played by being strummed with a plectrum, like a guitar or a zither, rather than...
; and, accordingly, several new inventions are ascribed to Olympus. The greatest of his inventions was that of the third system, or genus, of music, the
EnharmonicThe enharmonic genus has historically been the most mysterious and controversial of the three Greek genera of tetrachords. Its characteristic interval is a major third, leaving the remainder of the tetrachord to be divided by two intervals smaller than a semitone...
.
Of the particular tunes (
nomoi) ascribed to him, the most important was the
Harmatios nomos, a mournful and passionate strain, of the rhythm of which we are enabled to form an idea from a passage in the
OrestesOrestes is an Ancient Greek play by Euripides that follows the events of Orestes after he had murdered his mother.-Background:...
of
EuripidesEuripides was the lastof the three great tragedians of classical Athens . Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias...
, which was set to it, as the passage itself tells us. A dirge, also, in honour of the slain
PythonIn Greek mythology Python, serpent, was the earth-dragon of Delphi, always represented in Greek sculpture and vase-paintings as a serpent. She presided at the Delphic oracle, which existed in the cult center for her mother, Gaia, Earth, Pytho being the place name that was substituted for the...
, was said to have been played by Olympus, at
DelphiDelphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis...
, on the flute, and in the
LydianLydian may refer to:* Lydian language, an ancient Anatolian language* Lydian script* Lydian mode, one of the modes derived from ancient Greek music* Lydian , a decorative typeface* Lydia, an ancient kingdom in western Anatolia...
style.
AristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete...
mentions a mournful strain, set to more flutes than one (
xynaulia) as well known at Athens under the name of Olympus. But it can hardly be supposed that his music was all mournful; the
nomeNome may refer to:A subnational division:* Nome an administrative division within ancient Egypt.* Nome, Norway* Nome, Alaska, USA* Nome, California, USA* Nome, Texas, USA* Nome, North Dakota, in Barnes County, North Dakota, USA...
in honour of
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
, at least, must have been of a different character. Some ancient writers ascribe to him the
Nomos Orthios, which
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
attributes to
ArionArion was a legendary kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...
.
Olympus was a great inventor in
rhythmRhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events.-Rhythm in linguistics:...
as well as in music. To the two existing species of rhythm, the
ison, in which the
arsis and
thesis are equal (as in the
DactylDactyl may mean:* Dactyl , a creature in Greek mythology.* Pterodactyl, a flying pterosaur from the Triassic to Cretaceous Period* Dactyl , a metrical foot consisting of one long syllable and two short as in "Catherine." * Dactyl , the small natural satellite...
and
AnapaestAn anapaest, anapæst, or anapest, also called antidactylus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. In classical quantitative meters it consists of two short syllables followed by a long one ; in accentual stress meters it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. It...
), and the
diplasion, in which the
arsis is twice the length of the
thesis (as in the Iambus and
TrocheeA trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
), he added a third, the
hemiolion in which the length of the
arsis is equal to two short syllables, and that of the thesis to three, as, in the Cretic foot, the Paeons, and the Bacchic foot, though there is some doubt whether the last form was used by Olympus.
There is no mention of any poems composed by Olympus. It is argued by some writers that the inseparable connection between the earliest compositions in music and poetry forbids the supposition that he composed music without words. Without entering into this difficult and extensive question, it is enough to observe that, whatever words may have been originally connected with his music, they were superseded by the compositions of later poets. Of the lyric poets who adapted their compositions to the nomes of Olympus, the chief was
StesichorusStesichorus was a Greek lyric poet from Himera in Sicily, one of the nine lyric poets esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of study....
of
Himerathumb|250px|Remains of the Temple of Victory.thumb|250px|Ideal reconstruction of the Temple of Victory.Himera , was an important ancient Greek city of Sicily, situated on the north coast of the island, at the mouth of the river of the same name , between Panormus and Cephaloedium...
.