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References (4)
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Arnott (1977)
Swan SongsGreece and Rome, 24
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G. Castrucci (2014)
Il Lago dei cigni di Delo: dal 'threnos' al peanaACME, 66
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John Harris (2012)
THE SWAN'S RED-DIPPED FOOT: EURIPIDES, ION 161–9The Classical Quarterly, 62
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M. Masseti (1997)
Representations of birds in Minoan artInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 7
- Publisher
- Brill
- Copyright
- Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
- ISSN
- 2212-974X
- eISSN
- 2212-9758
- DOI
- 10.1163/22129758-12341301
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
In Greek Literature the characteristics of swans are used as a metaphor for a variety of human values. Their colour, their bravery and their singing are the three main characteristics we usually find in Greek texts as synonyms for beauty, courage and musical dexterity. In this paper, I try to go a step further, to explore whether it is possible to discover how ancient writers imagined the κύκνειον ᾆσµα might have sounded. I analyse the type of sound the relevant texts represent as their singing and even the use of their bodies as instruments in certain texts. I then show how ancient writers illustrated the swan song, the κύκνειον ᾆσµα, in musical contexts beyond the image of swans as animals capable of singing their dirge of death.
Journal
Greek and Roman Musical Studies – Brill
Published: Aug 10, 2017