Citharede

Citharode

Citharode

Classical Greek professional musician

A kitharode (Latinized citharode)[lower-alpha 1][2] (Ancient Greek: κιθαρῳδός [kitʰarɔː'dós] and κιτηαρῳδός;[3] Latin: citharoedus) or citharist,[1] was a classical Greek professional performer (singer) of the cithara, as one who used the cithara to accompany their singing. Famous citharodes included Terpander, Sappho, and Arion.

Apollo kitharoidos (Apollo holding a cithara and wearing the customary kitharōdos’ robes) and musagetes (leading the Muses). Marble, Roman artwork, 2nd century CE.
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"Citharoedus" or "Citharede" was also an epithet of Apollo (Apollo Citharede), and the term is used to refer to statues which portray Apollo with his lyre.

See also

Relevant musical instruments
Related type of statuary

Footnotes

  1. There are an elaborate variety of spellings, each altered to pronounce correctly in different languages, and to incorporate partial translations; since there is no modern form of kithara, that is typically left un-translated. (Strictly speaking, kitharoedos / citharoedus translates to "zitherist", but that seems to never be used.) Variants include:
    • citharede (rare)
    • citharoede (rare)
  2. A kitharode would automatically be expected to be able to also play a barbiton, lyre, and phorminx, provided it was a version with the same number of strings as the standard kithara.
  3. It is unclear how far back Greek musical notation goes. It may have only been a competency of kitharodes during the late classical period; from some point, both kitharodes and auletes would have required to simultaneously read two separate systems of notation: One for instrumental music and the other for sung music.
    Further information: Musical system of ancient Greece

References

  1. [1]
    "citharist". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  2. [2]
    "citharode". Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World.
  3. [3]
    Lewis, Charlton T.; et al. (eds.). "citharoedus". An Elementary Latin Dictionary.


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