ABSTRACT
War was an integral component of fifth-century Greek life, both in the form of active participation in war-making as a soldier or sailor and in terms of direct or indirect encounters with the deadly and painful consequences of war. Fifth-century Greeks were also very musical, of course. Occasions for public and private musical performance were numerous and are relatively well-documented for modern scholars to study. In the contest scene of Aristophanes' Frogs, Aeschylus' tragedies in general are characterized as being 'full of' warlike elements. A tragic chorus such as that of Aeschylus' Seven taps into a deeply resonant reserve of 'enthusiastic' and 'sacred' music, involving as it does a group of singers accompanied by the double pipes, performing in Lydian and Phrygian modes, and often even imitating the conventions of hymnic or lament traditions.
