Chelys

Chelys

The chelys (Greek: χέλυς, Latin: testudo), was a stringed musical instrument, the common lyre of the ancient Greeks, which had a convex back of tortoiseshell or of wood shaped like the shell. The word chelys was used in allusion to the oldest lyre of the Greeks, which was said to have been invented by Hermes. According to the Homeric Hymn to Hermes (475) he was attracted by sounds of music while walking on the banks of the Nile, and found they proceeded from the shell of a tortoise across which were stretched tendons which the wind had set in vibration.

The word has been applied arbitrarily since classic times to various stringed instruments, some bowed and some twanged, probably owing to the back being much vaulted. Athanasius Kircher (Musurgia universalis, 486) applied the name of chelys to a kind of viol with eight strings. Numerous representations of the chelys lyre or testudo occur on Greek vases, in which the actual tortoiseshell is depicted; a good illustration is given in Le Antichità di Ercolano (vol. i. p1. 43). Propertius (iv. 6) calls the instrument the lyra testudinea. Joseph Justus Scaliger[1] was probably the first writer to draw attention to the difference between the chelys and the kithara.

References

  1. ^ Scaliger, introductory notes to his edition of Marcus Manilius, Astronomicon, 1579.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • CHELYS — omne instrumentum Musicum sonorum. Papinius cam a furore Poetico separat, a tuba videl. Pieria, initio Thebaid. v. 32. Tempus erit cum laurigero tua fortior oestre Facta canam, nunc tendo Chelyn Cum lyra et cithara Poetae candem faciunt, cum… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Chelys — (gr.), 1) Schildkröte; 2) Lyra, s.u. Hermes; 3) so v.w. Rachenschildkröte …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Chelys — (griech., »Schildkröte«), im Altertum Bezeichnung der Lyra, im 16. und 17. Jahrh. der Laute …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Chelys — Un chelys El chelys (en griego χέλυς, en latín testudo), era un instrumento musical de cuerda, la lira común de los griegos clásicos. La caja de resonancia tenía una parte posterior convexa hecha con el caparazón de una tortuga o bien de madera.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Chelys — Lyraspielerin Apollo und Lyra …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chelys fimbriata — Matamata Ma ta*ma ta, n. [Pg.] (Zo[ o]l.) The bearded tortoise ({Chelys fimbriata}) of South American rivers. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Chelys fimbriata — Matamata Pour les articles homonymes, voir Matamata (homonymie) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • chelys — che·lys …   English syllables

  • chelys — ˈkēlə̇s, ˈke Etymology: New Latin, from Greek, tortoise; akin to Old Slavic želŭvĭ tortoise synonym of chelus …   Useful english dictionary

  • Omophron chelys — ? Omophron chelys Научная классификация Царство: Животные Тип: Членистоногие Класс: Насекомые …   Википедия

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