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HISTORY OF THE LYRE
The most important instrument in the far antiquity, the lyre, was the national musical instrument of the Greeks
and integral part in the education of youth.
It was strongly connected with the worship of Apollo and for this reason it was greatly respected.
It accompanied songs and dances and it was used at wedding ceremonies and
symposiums. The lyre in its
original archaic form had a sound
box that was made of a turtle shell that was surrounded by ox skin and two arms made from the horns of a wild
goat. The strings, which were
made of animal intestines, varied
in number. Originally they were three but by the 8th
century BC, became
seven and then they increased up to twelve. Great
melodists who used lyre in ancient Greece were Orpheus, Linus, Terpander
and many others.
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