Greek and Latin Texts on the Harp and Similar Instruments in Byzantine Times
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22029757 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dietmar Najock (Freie Universität Berlin, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 125-151 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Greek and Roman Musical Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2212-974X • E-ISSN: 2212-9758 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/22129758-bja10077 |
| OpenAlex | W4393987280 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
In Byzantine sources, both literary and iconographic, the harp occurs surprisingly seldom. Harpa as a term for a musical instrument is first encountered in Venantius Fortunatus. It is usually translated as ‘harp’, but at that time it most likely meant a lyre. Since the Carolingian Renaissance – when in the West often the harp, in Byzantium the psaltery gradually took the place of the lyre – the old name apparently passed to the new instrument, as similarly in the cases of cithara and ψαλτήριον . The name harpa was apparently adopted into Greek only at the end of the 14th century under Italian influence. Πλινθίο ν probably referred to the rectangular psaltery in Byzantium. Ἀχιλλιακόν may have meant a rare instrument in Byzantium, probably due to a misunderstanding of our Fortunatus passage
Aesthetics · Ancient history · Art · Art history · Byzantine architecture · HARP · Literature · The Renaissance · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Medieval Literature and History
| Highly cited | No |
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