The Symbolism of the Lyre and the Constellation Lyra
Introduction
A lyre has a very simple design.
A "yoke" crosses two uprights and strings are arranged
across the yoke.
These run down and may, for example,
meet at a central point in a fan shape.
The strings are of gut.
They are stretched between the yoke and the bridge.
Tuning is largely achieved through the tension on the string.
There are two ways of tuning:
one is to fasten the strings to pegs that can be turned,
while the other is to change the placement of the string
on the crossbar.
The instrument is held upright to be played.
There are two types of lyres: box and bowl.
Like their names suggest,
the box lyres have a boxlike body
and the bowl lyres have a round body with a curved back.
They are played a number of ways:
The plectrum - The lyre of classical antiquity was often played
by being strummed with a plectrum.
The fingers of the free hand silenced the unwanted strings in the chord.
Bow - Later lyres were played with a bow,
for example, in Europe and the Middle East.
Fingers - The strings can be plucked using the fingers
and the sound depends on where the string is plucked.
The Music revolution resulting from the lyre
It may be difficult for us to imagine the effect
produced on people when they heard music for the first time
as opposed to just drums or chanting for example.
But the magic and pleasure music provided
was looked on as spiritual.
And this is why, for example, there is a constellation called Lyra
to celebrate the birth of music
and all the musical instruments that evolved from this invention.
and this is a Tanbūra.
Music is and was a gift from heaven.
From this very simple design a vast number of stringed instruments
have evolved - zithers, pianos, violins, banjos, guitars,
cellos, double bass, lutes, psalteries, mandolins,
harpsichords, and the Jewish kinnor,
Çeng, Chang (instrument), Cithara, Kythara, Barbitos, Crwth, and Harp,
Konghou, talharpa, jouhikko and so we could continue.
Thus the invention of this simple instrument
was fundamental in propelling us into an age of music,
and its skilled and gifted practitioners, such as Orpheus,
became legends.
Orpheus’s music was said to be so great
that animals could be tamed and pacified,
and even inanimate objects such as rocks could be charmed.
Joining Jason and the Argonauts,
his music was able to quell the voices of the dangerous Sirens,
who sang tempting songs to the Argonauts.
Perhaps key is the understanding that music
could send people into ecstasy,
could affect mood and heal. And it still can.
The Impact of Music Therapy on Mental Health
DEC. 19, 2016 By Molly Warren, MM, LPMT, MT-BC
Research shows the benefits of music therapy
for various mental health conditions, including depression,
trauma, and schizophrenia (to name a few).
Music acts as a medium for processing emotions,
trauma, and grief - but music can also be utilized
as a regulating or calming agent for anxiety or for dysregulation.
The Constellation Lyra
Lyra is a small constellation. It is one of the 48
listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy,
and is one of the modern 88 constellations
recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
But Vega, Lyra’s brightest star,
is one of the brightest in the night sky.
On average, it is the second-brightest star
of the northern hemisphere (after Arcturus).
Vega was even the pole star in the year 12,000 BC,
and will again become the pole star around 14,000 AD.
So once Lyra literally had "pole position".
As such, the Constellation may be small,
but it shines brightly in the sky.
Lyra was often represented on star maps as an eagle
carrying a lyre, and hence is sometimes referred to as Aquila Cadens
implying that the music that "fell" from heaven
was the music of kings [Aquila was Zeus’ eagle].
In Wales, Lyra is known as King Arthur’s Harp (Talyn Arthur).
The Persian poet Hafiz called the Constellation,
the Lyre of Zurah.
In Greek mythology, Lyra represents the "Lyre of Orpheus".
Made by Hermes from a tortoise shell,
it was said to be the first lyre ever produced.
In myth, Orpheus married Eurydice, a nymph,
but a snake bite killed her.
To reclaim her, Orpheus entered the Underworld,
where the music from his lyre charmed even Hades enough
to result in him letting her go,
however Orpheus lost her by disobeying instructions.
There are two competing myths
relating to the death of Orpheus.
But both myths state that his lyre was placed in the sky by Zeus.
So we know from this that the music of the lyre
had a profound effect upon humans and their civilisation,
so profound that Zeus himself created a constellation
to honour its impact.
And we can judge just how much impact it had
upon the Greeks by looking at its place in the Mysteries.
The mystery religions
So fundamental to healing, wisdom and inspiration was music
that both music and lyre playing
became a fundamental part of the Mysteries.
The ancient Mysteries were perhaps
the highest spiritual heritage in ancient Greece.
They were sacred and secret
and one had to be initiated to know them.
In their inner meaning, the Mysteries presented
the "eternal truth", natural and spiritual
using allegorical representations
of the destiny of the soul after death,
and the laws of divine unity which connects all beings.
Ancient Greece had a number of Mysteries - such as
the Eleusinian, the Orphic, the Kabeirian and the Cretan.
In turn, many of the Mysteries’ Leaders
had served in the Egyptian Mysteries, before teaching
in centres like Knossos.
The Mysteries always appeared
at a quite advanced cultural stage of human beings,
Pythagorus, Plato, Socrates and Orpheus were all Adepts.
To be an initiate at all, one had to have a clear perception
of the existence of a whole transcendental Cosmos
beyond the human ability of sensing with the 5 senses.
All the world’s Mysteries were centred on the Mother Earth.
In the Greek culture she is called Rhea
(Gea=Earth) or Demeter (Mother of Earth).
She was the Great Mother - symbol of the productive,
revitalizing care of Nature.
Minoan Crete was once a site of the Mysteries,
and here Mother Earth was represented
by the Goddess with the snakes.
Here shown in a frieze from Knossos.
In Minoan Crete the strong fertility God
appears in the form of a bull and this is why the bull
is found in many sacred lyres with its head and horns.
Indeed, the earliest picture of a Greek lyre
appears in the famous sarcophagus of Hagia Triada,
which is a Minoan settlement in Crete.
The sarcophagus
was used during the Mycenaean occupation of Crete (c.1400 BC).
But, although the lyre may be a sacred and key part of the Mysteries,
Greece is not the place to find its origin
and here we need to go back much further.
The Lyres of Ur are thought to be the world's
oldest surviving stringed instruments.
And they were found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur
located in what was Ancient Mesopotamia.
And they are over 4,500 years old.
Mesopotamia and the Lyres of Ur
The Lyres of Ur are thought to be the world’s
oldest surviving stringed instruments.
They were discovered when excavating the Royal Cemetery of Ur
between 1922 and 1934,
in what was Ancient Mesopotamia [contemporary Iraq].
They date to the Early Dynastic III Period (2550 - 2450 BC)
and as this was a royal grave,
the lyres are fine examples of the court art of Mesopotamia of the period.
The wood of the lyres was decayed, but since some
were covered in non-perishable materials,
like gold and silver, they were able to be recovered.
The instrument remains were restored and distributed
between the museums that took part in the excavations.
The "Golden Lyre of Ur" or "Bull’s Lyre"
is the finest lyre, and was in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.
Its reconstructed wooden body was damaged
due to flooding during the second Iraqi War.
The whole head of the bull is made of gold.
The eyes are made of inlaid mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli.
The body of the bull was originally wood but did not survive.
The "Queen’s Lyre" was found in the grave of Queen Pu-abi.
It is 110 centimetres (44 in) in height.
The mask of the bull is gold. The eyes, hair, and beard
are all made of lapis lazuli [the horns are modern].
The shape of the lyre is meant to resemble a bull’s body.
And it is in the British Museum.
The "Bull Headed Lyre" is 40 cm in height, 11 cm in width,
and 19 cm in depth.
The Bull’s head, face and horns are all wrapped in gold foil
while its hair, beard, and eyes are made of lapis lazuli.
Below the head is a front panel made of shell inlay set into bitumen.
This panel depicts a figure holding onto a bull’s horns above,
and animals acting as humans below.
The lyre is held in the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.
The "Silver Lyre" is 110 cm (42 in) in height and 97 cm (38 in) in width.
It is one of two silver lyres discovered in "The Great Death Pit".
Both lyres were made of wood and then covered in sheets of silver
that were attached with small silver nails.
The eyes are made of lapis lazuli
and the lyre was also trimmed with narrow borders of lapis lazuli.
This is the only lyre that is not bearded.
And so yet again we must travel to ancient Babylon,
this time to discover the origins of music and musical instruments.
Symbolism
We saw in the video on the Constellation Bootes,
that just as it was placed in the sky to help us remember
the inventor of the plough and discovery of edible grains.
So the Constellation Lyra was placed in the sky
to help us remember the birth of music,
and by extension dancing, plays, poetry and song.
An equally momentous discovery
and one which gave us not just the leisure to relax and listen,
but the arts and music with which to fill that leisure time.
As such lyres are symbolically representative
of the birth of music as we know it.
Furthermore, the design of the lyre was deliberately chosen
to recognise that music was considered "heaven sent".
J. E. Cirlot - A Dictionary of Symbols
A symbol of the harmonious union of the cosmic forces,
the seven strings of the lyre correspond to the seven planets.
Timotheus of Mileus raised the number of strings to twelve
to correspond to the Signs of the Zodiac.
And they may be right. Music may indeed be "heaven sent".
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and the next.
There are seven notes, but the eighth is double its frequency.
For example, if one note has a frequency of 440 Hz,
the note one octave above is at 880 Hz,
and the note one octave below is at 220 Hz.
The ratio of frequencies of two notes an octave apart is therefore 2:1.
Wikipedia
The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon
that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music"...
it is believed that a set of cuneiform tablets
that collectively describe the tuning of a nine-stringed instrument,
believed to be a Babylonian lyre,
describe tunings for seven of the strings,
with indications to tune the remaining two strings
an octave from two of the seven tuned strings.