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[155] ἀνεβάλλετο, ‘struck up.’ The regular word for the prelude to a song. So of the “φόρμιγξ” Pindar, Pyth.1. 6“ὅταν φροιμίων ἀμβολὰς τεύχῃς”. Analogous in use is “ἀνακρούεσθαι”, cp. Theoc.4. 31“κηὖ μὲν τὰ Γλαύκας ἀγκρούομαι”. A few chords probably were all that were played, as at the opening of the modern Recitative. Cp. Ov. Met.5. 339praetentabat pollice chordas. Bergk, Griech. Lit. 1. p. 433, seems to refer “ἀναβάλλεσθαι” to the preparatory ‘flinging back’ of the head; as the singer braces himself for full and unimpeded utterance.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Pindar, Pythian, 1
    • Theocritus, Idylls, 4
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.339
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