aulos

File:Britannica Aulos Beak Mouthpiece.jpg]]

There were several kinds of aulos, single or double. The most common variety was a reed instrument. Archeological finds, surviving iconography and other evidence indicate that it was double-reeded, like the modern oboe, but with a larger mouthpiece, like the surviving Armenian duduk.{{cite book |last= West |first= Martin L. |title=Ancient Greek Music |publisher= Clarendon Press |quote="The single reed or clarinet mouthpiece was known to other ancient peoples, and I should not venture to assert that it was not known to the Greeks. But the evidence of both art and literature indicates that it was the double reed that was standard in the Classical period. Under the Hornbostel-Sachs system, therefore, the aulos should be classified as an oboe. It must be admitted that 'oboe-girl' is less evocative than the 'flute-girl' to which classicists have been accustomed, and that when it is a question of translating Greek poetry 'oboe' is likely to sound odd. For the latter case I favor 'pipe' or 'shawm.'" |date=January 1992 |isbn= 0-19-814975-1 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=So-Qpz6WDS4C&pg=PA84 }} A single pipe without a reed was called the monaulos (μόναυλος, from μόνος "single").{{cite journal|last=Howard|first=Albert A.|year=1893|title=The Αὐλός or Tibia|journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology|publisher=Department of the Classics, Harvard University|volume=4|pages=1–60|doi=10.2307/310399|jstor=310399}} A single pipe held horizontally, as the modern flute, was the plagiaulos (πλαγίαυλος, from πλάγιος "sideways"). A pipe with a bag to allow for continuous sound (a bagpipe) was the askaulos (ἀσκαυλός from ἀσκός askos "wineskin").{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOfuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|title=The story of the bagpipe|first=William Henry Grattan|last=Flood|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=9781176344228|access-date=21 April 2021|via=Google Books}}

Like the Great Highland Bagpipe, the aulos has been used for martial music, but it is more frequently depicted in other social settings.Herodotus, The Histories, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+1.17.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 1.17.1], on Perseus A normal flute would produce insufficient volume to be of any use in military application, where a double-reed could be heard over larger distances, and over the clamour of marching whilst wearing armour. It was the standard accompaniment of the passionate elegiac poetry. It also accompanied physical activities such as wrestling matches, the broad jump, the discus throw and to mark the rowing cadence on triremes, as well as sacrifices and dramas. Plato associates it with the ecstatic cults of Dionysus and the Korybantes, banning it from his RepublicRep 399d but permitting it in his Laws.

Players of the aulos used a tool known as the Phorbeia or the Capistrum. It was a device that consisted of two straps. One was placed on top of the head and another was placed on the back of the head and stretched from ear to ear to support the cheeks.{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Timothy J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzyVADDprSUC |title=Music in Roman Comedy |date=2012-04-19 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00648-5 |pages=44 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Bundrick |first=Sheramy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgSuo-A3cO8C |title=Music and Image in Classical Athens |date=2005-10-17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=35 |isbn=978-0-521-84806-0 |language=en}} It was used by ancient musicians to play the aulos by allowing them to create noise through circular breathing and steady the instrument.{{Cite book |last=Hanson |first=Victor Davis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2WIAgAAQBAJ |title=Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience |date=2002-11-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-96190-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Penelope |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tC79KhiftxMC |title=Music and the Muses: The Culture of 'mousikē' in the Classical Athenian City |last2=Wilson |first2=Peter |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-924239-9 |page=201 |language=en}} It may have also been used to prevent the reeds of the instrument from falling down the throat of the player.{{Cite book |last=Montagu |first=Jeremy |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1ztKVmMbSsC |title=Origins and Development of Musical Instruments |date=2007-10-29 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7770-2 |language=en}} Another potential use for the phrobeia was holding the lips in place, taking some strain off of the lip muscles.{{Cite book |last=Landels |first=John G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7u6FAgAAQBAJ |title=Music in Ancient Greece and Rome |date=2002-01-31 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-70486-6 |language=en}}File:Britannica Aulos Plagiaulos.jpg

Although aristocrats with sufficient leisure sometimes practiced aulos-playing as they did the lyre, after the later fifth century the aulos became chiefly associated with professional musicians, often slaves. Nevertheless, such musicians could achieve fame. The Romano-Greek writer Lucian discusses aulos playing in his dialogue Harmonides, in which Alexander the Great's aulete Timotheus discusses fame with his pupil Harmonides. Timotheus advises him to impress the experts within his profession rather than seek popular approval in big public venues. If leading musicians admire him, popular approval will follow. However, Lucian reports that Harmonides died from excessive blowing during practicing.

{{Main|Marsyas}}

File:Sarcophagus Apollo Marsyas Louvre Ma2347.jpg (290–300)]]

In myth, Marsyas the satyr was supposed to have invented the aulos, or else picked it up after Athena had thrown it away because it caused her cheeks to puff out and ruined her beauty. In any case, he challenged Apollo to a musical contest, where the winner would be able to "do whatever he wanted" to the loser—Marsyas's expectation, typical of a satyr, was that this would be sexual in nature. But Apollo and his lyre beat Marsyas and his aulos. And since the pure lord of Delphi's mind worked in different ways from Marsyas's, he celebrated his victory by stringing his opponent up from a tree and flaying him alive.

File:Pompeii - Casa del Poeta Tragico - Theater 1.jpgan mosaic showing a performer with an aulos and phorbeiá.]]

Marsyas's blood and the tears of the Muses formed the river Marsyas in Asia Minor.{{cite book|editor=Simon Goldhill |editor2=Ron Osborne|title=Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=2004}}

This tale was a warning against committing the sin of "hubris", or overweening pride, in that Marsyas thought he might win against a god. Strange and brutal as it is, this myth reflects a great many cultural tensions that the Greeks expressed in the opposition they often drew between the lyre and aulos: freedom vs. servility and tyranny, leisured amateurs vs. professionals, moderation (sophrosyne) vs. excess, etc. Some of this is a result of 19th century AD "classical interpretation", i.e. Apollo versus Dionysus, or "Reason" (represented by the kithara) opposed to "Madness" (represented by the aulos). In the temple to Apollo at Delphi, there was also a shrine to Dionysus, and his Maenads are shown on drinking cups playing the aulos, but Dionysus is sometimes shown holding a kithara or lyre. So a modern interpretation can be a little more complicated than just simple duality.

This opposition is mostly an Athenian one. It might be surmised that things were different at Thebes, which was a center of aulos-playing. At Sparta—which had no Bacchic or Korybantic cults to serve as contrast—the aulos was actually associated with Apollo, and accompanied the hoplites into battle.{{Cite news|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/hoplite/|title=Hoplite|work=World History Encyclopedia|access-date=2018-01-30}}

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The battle scene on the Chigi vase shows an aulos player setting a lyrical rhythm for the hoplite phalanx to advance to. This accompaniment reduced the possibility of an opening in the formation of the blockage; the aulete had a fundamental role in ensuring the integrity of the phalanx. In this particular scene, the phalanx approaching from the left is unprepared and momentarily outnumbered four to five. More soldiers can be seen running up to assist them from behind. Even though the front four are lacking a fifth soldier, they have the advantage because the aulete is there to bring the formation back together.{{cite journal|last=Hurwit|first=Jeffrey M.|title=Reading the Chigi Vase|journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens|volume=71|issue=1|year=2002|pages=1–22|doi=10.2972/hesp.2002.71.1.1|jstor=3182058|s2cid=190736363}}

An amphora from {{circa|540}}–530 BC depicts Herakles in the process of completing his tenth labor. Auletes can be seen playing in a procession going around on the neck of the amphora.{{cite journal|last=Moore|first=Mary B.|title=Herakles Takes Aim: A Rare Attic Black-Figured Neck-Amphora Attributed to the Princeton Painter|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=48|year=2013|pages=37–58|doi=10.1086/675312|s2cid=191490792}}

File:Herakles tenth labor.jpg|Herakles tenth labor

File:Neck of herakles amphora.jpg|Neck of Herakles' tenth labor amphora

File:Side b of body of herakles neck amphora.jpg|Geryon side of Herakles' tenth labor

File:Side B of neck of black figure amphora.jpg|Neck of Geryon side of Herakles' tenth labor amphora

The sounds of the aulos are being digitally recreated by the Ancient Instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application (ASTRA) project which uses physical modeling synthesis to simulate the aulos sounds. Due to the complexity of this process the ASTRA project uses grid computing to model sounds on hundreds of computers throughout Europe simultaneously.{{Cite web|url=http://www.astraproject.org/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627231112/http://www.astraproject.org/index.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=27 June 2015|title=The ASTRA Project website|date=27 June 2015|access-date=21 April 2021}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.isgtw.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905091435/http://www.isgtw.org/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 September 2015|title=iSGTW {{pipe}} iSGTW|date=5 September 2015|access-date=21 April 2021}}

The aulos is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, alongside other ancient instruments which ASTRA have recreated the sounds of, including the epigonion, the salpinx, the barbiton and the syrinx.{{Cite web|url=http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1001954|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902021150/http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1001954|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 September 2009|title=Feature - The Lost Sounds Orchestra|date=2 September 2009|access-date=21 April 2021}}

The aulos was also featured in the 2009 movie Agora, wherein a character performs a solo in an amphitheatre. It is also visible in the 2007 movie 300.

Modern evolutions of the aulos exist in Southeastern Europe. In southern Albania, specifically, a double non-free aerophone resembling the aulos – called the cula diare or longari – is still played in the Labëria region to accompany Albanian iso-polyphony.Eno Koço, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zoPI3exolloC&dq=cyla+dyjare&pg=PA112 "Vocal Iso(n)"], Art and Humanities Research Council (British Research Council), July 2012 These instruments are woodwind but not double-reeded like the aulos of antiquity.

File:Attic red-figure column-krater attributed to the Hephaistos Painter, dating c. 450 – c. 425 BCE, depicting a sympotic scene, Eskenazi Museum of Art.jpg|Attic red-figure column-krater attributed to the Hephaistos Painter, dating c. 450 – c. 425 BCE, depicting a hetaira playing the aulos at a symposium for two men holding lyres, Eskenazi Museum of Art

File:Greek Red-figure Ceramic Calyx Crater Girl in dance class; Berlin Dancers painter, 440-430 BC (28454178810).jpg|440-430 BC, Greece. Greek Red-figure Ceramic Calyx Crater. Girl dancing to aulos.

File:Relieve de Osuna (M.A.N. Madrid) 02.jpg|225-175 B.C., Osuna, Greek settlement in Iberian peninsula. Iberian high-relief showing an auletris (woman playing an aulos). It's part of the Sculptures of Osuna.

File:Archäologisches Museum Thessaloniki (Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης) (47831745881).jpg|Aulos bodies made of bone. Archäologisches Museum Thessaloniki.

File:Aulos male southern theatre Jerash.jpg|A male figure playing aulos. Southern theatre at Jerash.

File:Aulos female southern theatre Jerash.jpg|A woman playing aulos. Southern theatre at Jerash.

File:Nereus Playing Flutes, 1st-3rd Cent. AD.jpg|Helenistic depiction of Aulos, from Gandhara, 1st-3rd centuries BCE.

• The Reading Aulos
• Launeddas
• Zampogna
• Arghul
• Triple pipes

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Auloi}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050920113848/http://didaskalia.open.ac.uk/issues/vol2no2/Neuman.html "The Aulos and Drama: A Performer's Viewpoint," by Philip Neuman]
• [http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agm/ "Ancient Greek Music – The Aulos, with sound examples"]
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Aulos}}
• {{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00438243.1981.9979806|quote=The tibiae (is) an instrument of the Romans.|title=The Archaeology of Musical Instruments in Germany during the Roman Period|first=Maria E.|last=Ginsberg-Klar|journal=World Archaeology|volume=12|issue=3, Archaeology and Musical Instruments|date=February 1981|pages=313–320|jstor=124243}}
• İkibeş, Samet (2021). Antik Yunan Enstrümanı Aulos ve Aulos'un Askeri Acıdan İncelenmesi. Balkan Müzik ve Sanat Dergisi , 3 (1) , 73-88 . DOI: 10.47956/bmsd.878775 https://doi.org/10.47956/bmsd.878775
• Katchmarschik Vladimir. Some Mysteries of Ancient Greek Aulets. Journal International Double Reed Society. 1994. Juli N 22. P. 93–99.

{{Double reed}}

{{Greek musical instruments}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Ancient Greek musical instruments

Category:Ancient Greek theatre

Category:Ancient Roman musical instruments

Category:Cult of Dionysus

Category:Double-reed instruments