A Guide to Ancient Greek Instruments

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Greek mythology expert Carla Ionescu shares common instruments & the importance of music in ancient Greece

Co-authored by Carla Ionescu, PhD and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: May 19, 2026 Fact Checked

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Instruments

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Music in Ancient Greece

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Modern Influence

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Video

The ancient Greeks pioneered many things that impact us today, like mathematics, literature, and even musical instruments! But what exactly did they play, and how was music viewed in Greek society? In this article, we partnered with a Greek mythology expert to explore the most important and popular instruments from ancient Greece, plus the importance of music in Greek mythology, society, and social life.

What instruments did the ancient Greeks play?

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An illustrated picture of the most common and important musical instruments from ancient Greece.

Greek mythology expert Carla Ionescu says the ancient Greeks commonly played drums, cymbals, and flutes. Other important instruments were the lyre and kithara, and pipes and pan flutes like the aulos and syrinx.

Section 1 of 3:

Instruments from Ancient Greece

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Lyre The lyre was the most important and well-known instrument in the ancient Greek world. It’s a plucked or strummed string instrument made from two upright arms, a crossbar with tuning pegs made of bronze, wood, ivory, or bone, and 7 strings made of sheep gut stretched between the crossbar and a tailpiece. The instrument could be played sitting or standing, and was sometimes used with a supportive strap to hold it up.^{[1]
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- Type: String instrument (plucked or strummed)
- In mythology and art: The messenger god Hermes is credited with making the first lyre out of a tortoise shell. It appears in art as early as 2000 BCE, with most depictions showing it played by men (although a few show women playing it, too).
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek lyre performance by musicologist Rosa Fragorapti on YouTube.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Carla Ionescu is a Greek mythology expert and ancient historian. Her work focuses on the goddess Artemis, and she runs the Artemis Research Center online.

Adam Godfrey is an ancient warfare expert with a passion for ancient Greek history. He's an author, hoplite reenactor, and the host of the YouTube channel Leonidas Sparta, which focuses on hoplite warfare.
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Kithara The kithara is a string instrument related to the lyre, but more complex and challenging to play and with a deeper, richer sound. It’s made from a wooden sound box with a tailpiece, two flexible upper arms joined by a crossbar with tuning pegs. It typically had 7 strings, although later versions could have up to 12. It was played in an upright position on the lap, with the player using both hands to strum the strings. Sometimes, a plectrum made of wood or ivory was used to pluck the strings (like a modern guitar pick). The kithara player would often sing a song while accompanying themselves on the instrument.^{[2]
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- Type: String instrument (plucked or strummed)
- In mythology and art: The kithara was said to be invented by Hermes, but is most associated with the god Apollo. It appears in depictions of Apollo on pottery and was a popular image on coins during the Classical and Hellenistic periods (6th to 1st centuries BCE).
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek kithara performance by professional harpist Jane Ferruzzo on YouTube.
- There are many variations of the lyre and kithara in different sizes, shapes, and with different numbers of strings. These include the ancient barbiton, chelys, epigonion, kanonaki, phorminx, sambuca, psaltery, and trigonon.
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Aulos The aulos is a wooden wind instrument resembling an ancient wooden recorder. The body (tube) of the instrument was made from cane, boxwood, bone, ivory, or occasionally bronze or copper, with 7 finger holes drilled into it to play different notes. Players blew into a mouthpiece containing a single or double reed at the top of the instrument to produce sound. Ancient Warfare Expert Adam Godfrey confirms that most often, two auloi were joined together at the mouthpiece to produce a richer sound.^{[3]
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Adam Godfrey
Ancient Warfare Expert

Expert Interview} In some instances, metal rings or keys were used to close the holes (like a modern oboe or clarinet).^{[4]
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- Type: Wind instrument
- In mythology and art: The aulos is associated with the god Dionysos and was played at drinking parties, festivals, birth or death processions, theatre productions, and even for athletes to keep their exercises in time. The earliest example comes from 5000 BCE, and they first appeared in small marble statues as early as 2700 BCE.
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek aulos performance by historical reed performer Callum Armstrong on YouTube.
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Pan flute or panpipes (syrinx) Ionescu notes that the ancient Greeks commonly played flutes.^{[5]
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Carla Ionescu, PhD
Ancient Historian

Expert Interview} The panpipes were most often played by shepherds, and were made of 4 to 18 cane tubes (without any finger holes) fastened together with cane, flax, or even wax. To play them, musicians held the pipes in both hands and blew across the top opening of each tube, with different pitches produced by the differing lengths of the tubes. Modern panpipes are not much different!^{[6]
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- Type: Wind instrument
- In mythology and art: Panpipes are named after the pastoral deity, Pan. Pan fell in love with the nymph Syrinx, but when she resisted his affection and pleaded with Zeus for protection, she was turned into reeds. Pan was furious and smashed the reeds, but as his remorse set in, he picked up the pieces and kissed them. He discovered that by blowing into them, he could create music, and he named the instrument after his lost lover. Depictions can be found in sculpture and pottery throughout Greek history.
- What did it sound like? Listen to a syrinx performance by ancient Greek musician and researcher Giannis Pantazis on YouTube.
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Hydraulis The hydraulis, or Greek water organ, is the world’s oldest keyboard instrument and the ancestor of today’s pipe organ. It was typically made from copper or bronze pipes and a wooden frame and windchest, with a metal tank and pumps to provide air pressure. The technology was groundbreaking when it was invented in the 3rd century BCE by the engineer Ctesibius of Alexandria. Air was pumped into a chamber submerged in a tank of water, which provided counter-pressure that enabled a steady flow of air into the pipes, making a stable tone. Wooden or metal keys were used to control airflow into the pipes.^{[7]
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- Type: Keyboard instrument
- In mythology and art: The hydraulis doesn’t appear in mythology, since its invention was recorded in the 3rd century BCE. It appears largely in Roman-era mosaics and other artefacts, rather than on Greek pottery or in sculpture.
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek hydraulis performance by Justus Willberg of the European Music Archaeology Project on YouTube.
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Salpinx The salpinx is the “trumpet” of ancient Greece. It was typically made of up to 13 sections of bone connected by bronze rings, a conical bell, and a bone or bronze mouthpiece. It also had a chain that connected the bell to help the player support the instrument (it was fairly long!). It was played during the Olympic Games to call attention or signal the start of events, as well as on the battlefield to send tactical signals (it was not used to make music in the artistic sense).^{[8]
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- Type: Wind instrument
- In mythology and art: The salpinx was associated with divine power and is sometimes said to have been invented by the goddess of war, Athena. It appears frequently on vase paintings and other Greek art from the 7th century BCE onward, typically played by soldiers.
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek salpinx performance on YouTube (provided by the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona).
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Krotalon A krotalon was a pair of ancient finger cymbals used to accompany dancing in ancient Greece. They were made of split reed or cane, or sometimes of wooden or metal shells held in one hand, and played like modern castanets (though probably not as fast). They were played almost exclusively by women, particularly during religious dances.^{[9]
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- Type: Percussion instrument
- In mythology and art: The krotalon was associated with Dionysos and satyrs (a type of drunken woodland god). They were often used during ecstatic religious dances and may have also been used to ward off evil. They appear in vase paintings and terracotta figurines from the 5th century BCE onward.
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Kymbolon The Greek kymbolon (Latin cymbalum) is the predecessor of modern cymbals. According to Ionescu, the cymbals are a very ancient instrument and symbolized music to the Greeks.^{[10]
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Carla Ionescu, PhD
Ancient Historian

Expert Interview} These “half globes” came in various sizes and were made of bronze (or sometimes other materials to get a different sound). Some would taper to a point that could be grasped by the player, while others had straps attached to make holding them easier. They were mostly used in ecstatic, orgiastic religious dances.^{[11]
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- Type: Percussion instrument
- In mythology and art: The Greek cymbals were most often used in worship and celebration of gods like Cybele, Dionysus, Hera, and other deities (particularly of Eastern cults). They appear in art largely from the 5th century BCE onward, especially in dance scenes.
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Tympanon The tympanon was a popular frame drum in ancient Greece, producing a loud rumbling sound similar to that of the modern timpani. Ionescu notes that drums are one of the most ancient instruments that the Greeks loved to play.^{[12]
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Carla Ionescu, PhD
Ancient Historian

Expert Interview} The tympanon was made of a round wooden frame that was wide enough to sit comfortably in the hand, with an oxhide skin stretched around one side that was hit to create sound. (Some also had metal ringlets around the outside, similar to a tambourine.) They could range in size from small, handheld drums to large, shield-like drums. They were played mainly by women during spiritual or religious dances and festivals.^{[13]
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- Type: Percussion instrument
- In mythology and art: The tympanon was played to worship deities like Rhea, Demeter, Artemis, or Cybele, who oversaw fertility, marriage, and motherhood, as well as Dionysos. The instruments appear in vase paintings (especially dance scenes), and are even mentioned in writing by Euripides.
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek tympanon played by world music performer and scholar Enzo Fina on YouTube.
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Pandura The pandura is an ancient 3-stringed lute with a small to medium resonating box and a long fingerboard with frets (it’s sometimes called a trichordon, which is Greek for “three-stringed”). It was held and played similarly to a modern guitar, and the strings were plucked with a plectrum (like a pick). There were many variations of the pandura throughout Greece, the Mediterranean, and the Near East.^{[14]
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- Type: String instrument (plucked or strummed)
- In mythology and art: The pandura was considered a folk instrument and is not often seen in mythological stories or art. It was associated with feminine figures and was seen as hedonistic, often played at symposiums and festivals for entertainment.
- What did it sound like? Listen to an ancient Greek pandura performance by ancient instrument composer Marios Podaras on YouTube.
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Rattle or sistrum According to Ionescu, the ancient Greeks commonly played an instrument that resembled a rattle. The rattle has an oval shape with lines inside where the Greeks attached rocks. They would then hold it by the handle and shake it. Ionescu adds that when archeologists first discovered the rattles, they thought they were toys, but they later learned that they were used as musical instruments.^{[15]
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Carla Ionescu, PhD
Ancient Historian

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- Type: Percussion instrument
- In mythology and art: The rattle or sistrum was played during religious rituals and festivals, such as harvest festivals. It’s famously depicted on the Harvester Vase from around 1500 BCE.^{[16]
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Section 2 of 3:

The Role of Music in Ancient Greece

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The ancient Greeks viewed music as a gift from the gods. Many of their instruments were said to be invented by specific deities (like Pan creating the panpipes or Athena creating the aulos), and in mythology, the Muses personified the various elements of music (including dance, lyrics, and even the performance of poetry). Because of this belief, music was essential to many aspects of daily life.^{[17]
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- Music accompanied nearly everything from religious ceremonies, weddings, festivals, athletic and military activities, plays, funerals, and even private drinking parties called symposia.
- Ionescu notes that the ancient Greeks focused heavily on harmonizing music and performed a lot of their rituals and festivals in caves. They wanted to see how the vibrations echoed so they could feel the music in their bodies.^{[18]
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- The Ancient Greeks also played music at temple sites and processions in celebrations for the gods, adds Ionescu. Singing was common, too.^{[19]
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Musical training was an essential part of a well-rounded education. It was thought that music taught discipline and order, and students (largely males) were taught to play instruments like the lyre or kithara, as well as how to sing. By the 5th century BCE, music was a central part of most classrooms and curriculums.^{[20]
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- Of course, music was played and listened to for fun, too! Men often performed for each other at symposia, and traveling bards would go from city to city, reciting epics like the Odyssey or the Iliad while accompanying themselves on string instruments like the lyre.

Section 3 of 3:

How have Greek instruments influenced modern music?

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The lyre is an example of an early harp, and the kithara is considered the ancestor of the modern guitar (the word “guitar” actually comes from the ancient Greek word, kithara). Even the orchestral timpani is an elaborate descendant of the simple tympanon drums of Greece and other ancient cultures.
Evidence suggests they studied music theory as early as the 6th century BCE, laying the foundations for today’s musical scales, harmonies, and acoustics. The followers of Pythagoras believed music was related to mathematics and discovered that harmonics could be described with simple rations.^{[21]
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Research source} For example, they discovered that by reducing the length of a string by one half, you can produce a pitch that is exactly 1 octave higher than the original length of the string (a 2:1 ratio).