Greek Myths XS: The Creation of the Lyre and the Flute

It was the cleverest god of all, Hermes, who invented the highly appreciated lyre. Freshly born, he crept out of his mother’s grotto and immediately showed his true nature by stealing Apollo’s cattle. To appease his half brother, he crafted an instrument from a tortoise shell and some cords. Apollo totally forgot about his cows and played it ever since. Another popular instrument was the aulos-flute, played by the satyrs in the retinue of Dionysos. One of them, Marsyas, became quite a virtuoso and made the fatal mistake to challenge Apollo to a music contest: flute versus lyre. He might have won too, if not for a petty demand of Apollo: to play their instruments upside down. This of course didn’t suit the flute and Marsyas was flayed alive. Now, the aulos was originally designed by Athena, but she hated how playing it distorted her face. It’s been said that young Alkibiades of Athens abandoned his music lessons altogether “in honour of Athena”. Well, as an excuse, it certainly beats the homework eaten by the dog.

Marsyas, Lekythos, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Apollo and the Muses, John Singer Sargent, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA