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Ancient Greek Musical Instruments ClipArt gallery offers 32 illustrations of the auletris, chelys, cithara, crotalum, pan pipes, lyre, keras, and other musical instruments of Ancient Greece.

"Auletris.- Performer on the double flute or diaulos. (From a Greek red-figured vase; 5th century B.C.)"-Whitney, 1902.

Auletris

"Auletris.- Performer on the double flute or diaulos. (From a Greek red-figured vase; 5th century B.C.)"-Whitney,…

"Chelys, from a vase in the British Museum, where also are fragments of such an instrument, the back of which is of shell." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1903

Chelys

"Chelys, from a vase in the British Museum, where also are fragments of such an instrument, the back…

A seven-stringed lyre with a deep, wooden sounding box. Primarily used by the ancient Greeks, this instrument was more complex then the lyra, used by musical professionals.

Cithara

A seven-stringed lyre with a deep, wooden sounding box. Primarily used by the ancient Greeks, this instrument…

An illustration of a man playing the cithara.

Cithara

An illustration of a man playing the cithara.

"A kind of cymbal. It appears to have been a split reed or cane, which clattered when shaken with the hand. Women who played on the crotalun were termed crotalistriae. The annexed cut represents one of these crotalistriae performing." — Smith, 1873

Crotalum

"A kind of cymbal. It appears to have been a split reed or cane, which clattered when shaken with the…

"Ancient Greek Double Pipes. Elgin Collection, British Museum." — The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1910

Double Pipes

"Ancient Greek Double Pipes. Elgin Collection, British Museum." — The Encyclopedia Britannica,…

Grecian female with double flute dressed for festive occasion

Grecian Female with Double Flute

Grecian female with double flute dressed for festive occasion

Grecian female with double flute dressed for funeral procession.

Ancient Grecian Female with Double Flute

Grecian female with double flute dressed for funeral procession.

"Greek Lyres" — Morey, 1903

Greek Lyres

"Greek Lyres" — Morey, 1903

Keras

Keras

Keras

Keras

Keras

Keras

"A lyre, one of the most ancient musical instruments of the stringed kind. The Greeks attributed the invention of the lyre to Mercury, who is said to have formed the instrument of a tortoiseshell, over which he placed gut-strings." — Smith, 1873

Lyra

"A lyre, one of the most ancient musical instruments of the stringed kind. The Greeks attributed the…

Timotheus's harp with nine strings

Lyre

Timotheus's harp with nine strings

A kind of harp much used by the ancients.

Lyre

A kind of harp much used by the ancients.

A stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity.

Lyre

A stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity.

This illustration shows an ancient lyre. It was fixed with 6 strings all tuned differently.

Lyre

This illustration shows an ancient lyre. It was fixed with 6 strings all tuned differently.

A stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by it.

Lyre

A stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. The recitations of the…

A stringed instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. It was used mainly by the Ancient Greeks.

Lyre

A stringed instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. It was used mainly by the Ancient…

A lyre

Lyre

A lyre

"Cithara or Phorminx, from a vase in the British Museum. Best period of Greek art." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1903

Lyre

"Cithara or Phorminx, from a vase in the British Museum. Best period of Greek art." —The Encyclopedia…

"Two forms of the old Greek lyre." -Foster, 1921

Lyre

"Two forms of the old Greek lyre." -Foster, 1921

A lyre, a stringed instrument commonly used in Greek Classical antiquity.

Lyre

A lyre, a stringed instrument commonly used in Greek Classical antiquity.

"Greek lyres"

Greek lyres

"Greek lyres"

Pipe with seven reeds

Pipe with seven reeds

Pipe with seven reeds

A woman plays a Greek funeral pipe in the funeral procession of Hector.

Greek Funeral Pipe

A woman plays a Greek funeral pipe in the funeral procession of Hector.

A primative musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of tubes of cane, wood, metal, or stone, closed at the lower end.

Pan Pipes

A primative musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of tubes of cane, wood, metal, or stone,…

A primative musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of tubes of cane, wood, metal, or stone, closed at the lower end.

Pan Pipes

A primative musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of tubes of cane, wood, metal, or stone,…

Also known as the syrinex is the earliest example of a graduated series of open-pipes, with a very obvious resemblance to a flute stop

Pan's pipes

Also known as the syrinex is the earliest example of a graduated series of open-pipes, with a very obvious…

"Syrinx, the Pan's pipe, or Pandean pipe, was the appropriate musical instrument of the Arcadian and other Grecian shepherds, and was regarded by them as the invention of Pan, their tutelary god. When the Roman poets had occasion to mention it, they called it fistula. It was formed in general of seven hollow stems of cane or reed, fitted together by means of wax, having been previously cut to the proper lengths, and adjusted so as to form an octave; but sometimes nine were admitted, giving an equal number of notes." &mdash Smith; 1873

Syrinx

"Syrinx, the Pan's pipe, or Pandean pipe, was the appropriate musical instrument of the Arcadian and…

An ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the stopped pipe, consisting usually of ten or more pipes gradually increasing in size.

Syrinx

An ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the stopped pipe, consisting usually of ten…

A psaltry, a stringed instrument belonging to the harp family. Originated in Greece.

The psaltry

A psaltry, a stringed instrument belonging to the harp family. Originated in Greece.

The water organ or hydraulic organ (early types are sometimes called hydraulis, hydraulos, hydraulus or hydraula) is a type of automatic pipe organ blown by air, where the power source pushing the air is derived by water from a natural source (e.g. by a waterfall) or by a manual pump. Consequently, the water organ lacks a bellows, blower, or compressor. In addition to being the source of power to push air through the organ pipes, the water is also used as a source of power to drive a mechanism similar to that of the Barrel organ, which has a pinned barrel that contains a specific song to be played.

Water Organ

The water organ or hydraulic organ (early types are sometimes called hydraulis, hydraulos, hydraulus…