Greek Literary Devices

As it is lower than any other pitch in the Epitaph, the last note evokes an air of finality in the composition. Paired with the F sharp and the A, the E acts as a kind of musical inversion of the K, I and Z Greek symbols near the beginning. As this rhythmical pattern only happens twice in the entire composition, the beginning and the end are easily distinguished from the rest of the piece by the listener. This group of three notes is also different from the rest of the Epitaph as it contains the only F sharp in the piece.

Despite our distance in time, I believe that our opinion is reliable as we have absorbed and elaborated so many of the original Greek techniques. Although we no longer use letters and symbols to represent pitch and rhythm, the diatonic genus, the other tetra chord forms and certain modal aspects are still present in many of our scales and melodies. This enables us to have a fairly good comprehension of ancient Greek music.

2. Musically speaking, we inherited many things from the Greeks. In a general sense, they established a base for modern rhythm, using specific letters and symbols for different note values. For example, in the Epitaph, the

In ancient Greece, ethos—from which the word ethics was derived—was related to music’s ability to influence and captivate the listener. Harmonious and rhythmical music were thought to calm the spirit whereas graceless and arhythmical music could produce a bad tempered or even a dangerous person. In Plato’s Republic, Socrates even states that certain scales should be banned as “rhythm and harmony find their way to the inmost soul” and thus are able to control an individual (reference). Similarly, many Greeks felt that maintaining a specific balance in music was essential to keeping the society peaceful. For example, a person who tried to enter a Greek city with a modified lyre or flute could be sent away as the citizens did not wish to be corrupted by different or perhaps dissonant sounding