Skolion (pl. skolia), also scolion (pl. scolia), were songs sung by invited guests at banquets in ancient Greece. Often extolling the virtues of the gods or heroic men, skolia were improvised to suit the occasion and accompanied by a lyre, which was handed about from singer to singer as the time for each scolion came around^[1]. "Capping" verses were exchanged, "by varying, punning, riddling, or cleverly modifying" the previous contribution^[2]. The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... “Lyres” redirects here. ...

Skolia are often referred to as “banquet songs”, “convivial songs”, or “drinking songs”. The term also refers to poetry composed in the same form^[3]. In later use, the form was used in a more stately manner for chorus poetry in praise of the gods or heroes. The Greek chorus (choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek dithyrambs and tragikon drama in tragic plays of the ancient Greek theatre. ...

Terpander is said to have been the inventor of this poetic form, although that is doubtful. Instead, he may have adapted it for musical accompaniment. That these skolia were written, not only by poets like Alcaeus, Anacreon, Praxilla, Simonides, but also by Sappho and by Pindar^[4], shows in what high esteem skolia were held by the Greeks. "The gods of Olympos sang at their banquets"^[5]. Terpander, of Antissa in Lesbos, was a Greek poet and citharode who lived about the first half of the 7th century BC. About the time of the Second Messenian War, he settled in Sparta, whither, according to some accounts, he had been summoned by command of the Delphian oracle, to... Alcaeus (Alkaios) of Mitylene (ca. ... Anacreon roman copy , Rome in Palazzo dei Conservatori Anacreon (also Anakreon) (born ca. ... Praxilla, of Sicyon, was a Greek lyric poet of the 5th century BC. She was one of the nine lyric Muses. ... Bold textil8jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjpooSimonides of Ceos (ca. ... Ancient Greek bust. ... For the PINDAR military bunker in London, please see the PINDAR section of Military citadels under London Pindar (or Pindarus, Greek: ) (probably born 522 BC in Cynoscephalae, a village in Boeotia; died 443 BC in Argos), was a Greek lyric poet. ...

The Skolion of Seikolos, dated between 200 BCE and 100 CE, found with the original music in the ancient Greek notation, is thought to be the oldest complete example of ancient Greek music^[6][7]. The Seikilos epitaph is famed as the oldest surviving example of a complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the western world. ... BCE is a TLA that may stand for: Before the Common Era, date notation equivalent to BC (e. ... BCE redirects here. ...

References

Herbert Weir Smyth (born Wilmington, Delaware, August 8, 1857 – died 1937) was an American classical scholar. ...

Literature

• Richard Reitzenstein, Epigramm und Skolion, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Alexandrinischen Dichtung. Giessen (1893); Olms, Hildesheim (1970).

• Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Melic Poets, (1900); New York, Biblo and Tannen (1963) ISBN 0819601209

• Gregory Jones, "Non-Elite Origins of the Attic Skolia and the Birth of Democracy", Abstracts of Papers for the Annual Meeting, American Philological Association (APA) (2005)

Herbert Weir Smyth (born Wilmington, Delaware, August 8, 1857 – died 1937) was an American classical scholar. ...

See also

• Ancient Greece
• Nine lyric poets
• Greek chorus

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... The nine lyric poets (nine melic poets) were a canon of archaic Greek composers esteemed by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria as worthy of critical study. ... The Greek chorus (choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek dithyrambs and tragikon drama in tragic plays of the ancient Greek theatre. ... The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Helespont/Dardanelles, a long narrow strait dividing the Balkans (Europe) along the Gallipoli peninsula from Asia Anatolia (Asia Minor). ... 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