Musics, Cults and Rites of a Greek City in the West: the Case of Selinus

Summary

Studies on Ancient Greek music often concentrate on evidence from Athens or Sparta. However, Athenian or Spartan musical activity may not be typical of other areas of the Greek world, particularly the Western Greeks, as indeed is evident from other areas of social, artistic, and political activity. This paper will combine the methods of musicology and archeology towards the study of the archaeological remains of musical interest, considering their findspot and context of use, in order to place musical activities in a well-defined space and occasion and to interpret the cultural, religious and social meaning of musical performances. The research will bring out a particular musical tradition of the Western Greeks and will reconstruct the role of music in the specific context of Selinus, was one of the most important Western Greek settlements during the Archaic and Classical periods, as regards both private and public, especially religious, life. The survey aims to analyze the musical activities in sacred places, where male and female oriented rituals were performed. Based on our approach, this paper will provide the opportunity for a reflection on the way in which the Western Greeks reworked the musical heritage of the motherland, and reinforced their cultural identity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

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