Music was an important part of social and cultural
life in Ancient Greece. Musicians and singers played a
prominent role in Greek theater. Mixed-gender choruses
performed for entertainment, celebration, and spiritual
ceremonies. Instruments included the double-reed aulos
and a plucked string instrument, the lyre, principally the
special kind called a kithara. Music was an important part of
education, and boys were taught music starting at age six.
Greek musical literacy created a flowering of music
development. Greek music theory included the Greek
musical modes, that eventually became the basis for
Western religious and classical music. Later, influences from
the Roman Empire, Eastern Europe, and the Byzantine
Empire changed Greek music.