Strabo Geography Musical Worship Pagan Background

Strabo in Geography born 64/63 bc, Amaseia, Pontus died ad 23, ? notes that "inspired people subject to Bacchic frenzy (speaking in tongues), and, in the guise of ministers, inspire terror at sacred rites by means of cymbals, drums, flutes and war-dances. That was the early view of musical worship.

The following quotations come primarily from Strabo. They provide background for Paul's warning against singing and speaking in tongues in Corinth. We finally understand why he told them they would just look mad or insane.

Every example of music as a device of worship in the Old and New Testaments is derived from or compared to the pagan practices which rejected the Words of God and demanded a direct revelation from the gods delivered through something like speaking in tongues and often from the musical instrument as the actual idol.

Speaking of the religious ritual condemned by Amos and others we note that: ---- "The marzeah had an extremely long history extending at least from the 14th century B.C. through the Roman period. In the 14th century B.C., it was prominently associated with the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), on the coast of Syria... The marzeah was a pagan ritual that took the form of a social and religious association... Some scholars regard the funerary marzeah as a feast for--and with--deceased ancestors (or Rephaim, a proper name in the Bible for the inhabitants of Sheol)." (King, Biblical Archaeological Review, Aug, 1988, p. 35, 35) ---- "These five elements are: (1) reclining or relaxing, (2) eating a meat meal, (3) singing with harp or other musical accompaniment, (4) drinking wine and (5) anointing oneself with oil." (King, p. 37). ---- "With the wine-drinking (which is the literal meaning of the Hebrew for feasting), went music and dancing." (Heaton, E. W., Everyday Life in Old Testament times, Scribners, p. 93) ---- "Worship was form more than substance; consequently, conduct in the marketplace was totally unaffected by worship in the holy place. Amos spoke from the conviction that social justice is an integral part of the Mosaic covenant, which regulates relations not only between God and people, but also among people." (King, p. 44). ----"In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans. In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21. There is no other biblical tradition about the invention of musical instruments." (Freedman, David Noel, Bible Review, Summer 1985, p. 51).

Herodotus Histories

[1.23.1] Periander, who disclosed the oracle's answer to Thrasybulus, was the son of Cypselus, and sovereign of Corinth.

The Corinthians say (and the Lesbians agree) that the most marvellous thing that happened to him in his life was the landing on Taenarus of Arion of Methymna, brought there by a dolphin.

This Arion was a lyre-player second to none in that age; he was the first man whom we know to compose and name the dithyramb (dance music associated with cult of Dionysus) which he afterwards taught at Corinth.

[1.24.1] They say that this Arion, who spent most of his time with Periander, wished to sail to Italy and Sicily, and that after he had made a lot of money there he wanted to come back to Corinth. [1.24.2] Trusting none more than the Corinthians,

he hired a Corinthian vessel to carry him from Tarentum. But when they were out at sea,

the crew plotted to take Arion's money
and cast him overboard. (Corinthians were like that)

Discovering this, he earnestly entreated them, asking for his life and offering them his money.

[1.24.3] But the crew would not listen to him, and told him either to kill himself and so receive burial on land or else to jump into the sea at once. [1.24.4]

Abandoned to this extremity, Arion asked that, since they had made up their minds, they would let him stand on the half-deck in all his regalia and sing; and he promised that after he had sung he would do himself in. [1.24.5]

The men, pleased at the thought of hearing the best singer in the world, drew away toward the waist of the vessel from the stern. Arion, putting on all his regalia and taking his lyre, stood up on the half-deck and sang the "Stirring Song," and when the song was finished he threw himself into the sea, as he was with all his regalia. (The song was a high-pitched and very well-known song or hymn in honor of Apollo, the Apollyon or Abbadon of the Bible).

[1.24.6] So the crew sailed away to Corinth; but a dolphin (so the story goes) took Arion on his back and bore him to Taenarus.

Landing there, he went to Corinth in his regalia, and when he arrived, he related all that had happened. Periander, skeptical, kept him in confinement, letting him go nowhere, and waited for the sailors. When they arrived, they were summoned and asked what news they brought of Arion. While they were saying that he was safe in Italy and that they had left him flourishing at Tarentum, Arion appeared before them, just as he was when he jumped from the ship; astonished, they could no longer deny what was proved against them.

This is what the Corinthians and Lesbians say, and there is a little bronze memorial of Arion on Taenarus, the figure of a man riding upon a dolphin.

See how Apollo became a dolphin to "Navigate the winds" to get ministers for his musical oracle in Delphi.

Strabo 1.That is the reason why in Greece the various states educate the young, at the very beginning of their education, by means of poetry; not for the mere sake of entertainment, of course, but for the sake of moral discipline. Why, even the musicians, when they give instruction in singing, in p57 lyre-playing, origin flute-playing, lay claim to this virtue, for they maintain that these studies tend to discipline and correct the character.

Now, my view is that everyone should be trained in music along with running a jumping. That does not mean that either should be USED to manipulate disciples of Christ and get paid to replace Jesus Christ the ONLY Spirit and only Intercessor.

Strabo, Geography identifies the LOCUSTS or musical performers in Revelation

6.[9] The Halex River, which marks the boundary between the Rhegian and the Locrian territories, passes out through a deep ravine; and a peculiar thing happens there in connection with the grasshoppers, that although those on the Locrian bank sing, [phthengomai] the others remain mute. 

Phthegma  2. of other sounds, as of birds, cries, S.El.18, E.Hel.747; of a bull, roaring, Id.Hipp.1215; brontas ph. Pi.P.4.198 ; thueias ph. the grinding of the mortar, Ar.Pax235; of musical notes, Id.Av.683 (lyr.), Pl.Lg.812d; of the nightingale's song, Ar.Av.204, 223.

As for the cause of this, it is conjectured that on the latter side the region is so densely shaded that the grasshoppers, being wet with dew, cannot expand their membranes, whereas those on the sunny side have dry and horn-like membranes and therefore can easily produce their song. And people used to show in Locri a statue of Eunomus, the cithara-bard, with a locust seated on the cithara. Timaeus says that Eunomus and Ariston of Rhegium were once contesting with each other at the Pythian games and fell to quarrelling about the casting of the lots;48 so Ariston begged the Delphians to cooperate with him, for the reason that his ancestors belonged49 to the god and that the colony had been sent forth from there;50 and although Eunomus said that the Rhegini had absolutely no right even to participate in the vocal contests, since in their country even the grasshoppers, the sweetest-voiced of all creatures, were mute, Ariston was none the less held in favor and hoped for the victory; and yet Eunomus gained the victory and set up the aforesaid image in his native land, because during the contest, when one of the chords broke, a grasshopper lit on his cithara and supplied the missing sound.

Strabo Geography

In Geography [9.3.5] Strabo notes that "They say that the seat of the oracle is a cave that is hollowed out deep down in the earth, with a rather narrow mouth,

from which arises breath that inspires a divine frenzy; and that over the mouth is placed a high tripod, mounting which

the Pythian priestess receives the breath and then
utters oracles in both verse and prose,
though the latter too are put into verse by poets who are in the service of the temple.

They say that the first to become Pythian priestess was Phemonoe; and that both the prophetess and the city were so called from the word pythésthai," though the first syllable was lengthened, as in athanatos, akamatos, and diakonos.

Now the following is the idea which leads to the founding of cities and to the holding of common sanctuaries in high esteem: men came together by cities and by tribes,

because they naturally tend to hold things in common,
and at the same time because of their need of one another;

and they met at the sacred places that were common to them for the same reasons,
holding festivals and general assemblies;

for everything of this kind tends to friendship, beginning with eating at the same table, drinking libations together, and lodging under the same roof; and the greater the number of the sojourners

and the greater the number of the places whence they came,
the greater was thought to be the use of their coming together.

9.3.10 As for the contests at Delphi, there was one in early times between citharoedes, who sang a paean in honor of the god; it was instituted by the Delphians. But after the Crisaean war, in the time of Eurylochus, the Amphictyons instituted equestrian and gymnastic contests in which the prize was a crown, and called them Pythian Games. And to the citharoedes 18 they added both fluteplayers and citharists who played without singing [Aoide], who were to render a certain melody [melos] which is called the Pythian Nome. There are five parts of it: angkrousis, ampeira, katakeleusmos, iambi and dactyli, and syringes. Now the melody was composed by Timosthenes, the admiral of the second Ptolemy, who also compiled

The Harbours, a work in ten books;19 and through this melody he means to celebrate the contest between Apollo and the dragon, setting forth the prelude [melous humnein] as anakrousis, the first onset of the contest as ampeira, the contest itself as katakeleusmos, [anakrou-sis II. in Music, first beginning of a tune, Str.9.3.10]

the triumph following the victory as iambus and dactylus, the rhythms being in two measures,

one of which, the dactyl, is appropriate to hymns of praise,
whereas the other, the iamb, is suited to reproaches (compare the word "iambize"), and the expiration of the dragon as syringes,

since with syringes (pipe) players imitated the dragon (drakon) as breathing its last in hissings.(pipings) [surigmos]

Footnote 18 The citharoedes sang to the accompaniment of the cithara, and their contests must have had no connection with those of the fluteplayers and the citharists, whose performance (of the Pythian Nome) was a purely instrumental affair.

Surig-mos , ho, A. shrill piping sound, hissing, as of serpents, of a scourge, Arist.HA536a6, Str.9.3.10 (pl.); in sign of derision, X.Smp.6.5; as a military signal, Aen. Tact.24.17; s. kai chleuasmoi Plb.30.29.6 ; s. kalôn the whistling of rigging, D.H.Comp.16; of the sound of sibilants, ib.14; hissing in the theatre, Plu.Cic.13; of the cry of elephants, Arr.An.5.17.7; singing in the ears, Dsc.2.78.

Same as rhoiz-os A. whistling or whizzing of an arrow, any whistling or piping sound,  hissing of a serpent,

9.3.12 A little further on, when discussing who the Delphians were, he says that in olden times certain Parnassians who were called indigenous inhabited Parnassus; and that at this time Apollo, visiting the land, civilized the people by introducing cultivated fruits and cultured modes of life; and that when he set out from Athens to Delphi he went by the road which the Athenians now take when they conduct the Pythias; 22 and that when he arrived at the land of the Panopaeans he destroyed Tityus, a violent and lawless man who ruled there;

and that the Parnassians joined him and informed him of another cruel man named Python and known as the Dragon, and that when Apollo shot at him with his arrows the Parnassians shouted "Hie Paean"23 to encourage him (the origin, Ephorus adds, of the singing of the Paean which has been handed down as a custom for armies just before the clash of battle); and that the tent of Python was burnt by the Delphians at that time, just as they still burn it to this day in remembrance of what took place at that time. 

But what could be more mythical than Apollo shooting with arrows and punishing Tityuses and Pythons, and travelling from Athens to Delphi and visiting the whole earth? But if Ephorus did not take these stories for myths, by what right did he call the mythological Themis a woman, and the mythological Dragon a human being--unless he wished to confound the two types, history and myth? Similar to these statements are also those concerning the Aetolians; for after saying that from all time their country had been unravaged, he at one time says that Aeolians took up their abode there, having ejected the barbarians who were in possession of it, and at another time that Aetolus together with the Epeii from Elis took up their abode there, but that these were destroyed by the Aeolians, and that these latter were destroyed by Alcmaeon and Diomedes. But I return to the Phocians.

10:III. As for the Curetes, some assign them to the Acarnanians, others to the Aetolians; and some assert that they originated in Crete, but others in Euboea; but since Homer mentions them, I should first investigate his account. It is thought that he means that they were Aetolians rather than Acarnanians, if indeed the sons of Porthaon were

Agrius and Melas, and, the third, Oeneus the knight;
and they lived in Pleuron and steep Calydon.

These are both Aetolian cities, and are referred to in the Aetolian catalogue; and therefore, since, even according to the poet, the Curetes obviously lived in Pleuron, they would be Aetolians. Those writers who oppose this view are misled by Homer's mode of expression when he says, the Curetes were fighting, and the Aetolians steadfast in battle, about the city of Calydon; for, they add, neither would he have spoken appropriately if he had said, "the Boeotians and the Thebans were fighting against one another"; or "the Argives and the Peloponnesians." But, as I have shown heretofore, this habit of expression not only is Homeric, but is much used by the other poets also. This interpretation, then, is easy to defend; but let those writers explain how the poet could catalogue the Pleuronians among the Aetolians if they were not Aetolians or at least of the same race.

[2] Ephorus, after saying that the Aetolians were a race which had never become subject to any other people, but throughout all time of which there is any record had remained undevastated,

both because of the ruggedness of their country and because of their training in warfare, says at the outset that the Curetes held possession of the whole country, but when Aetolus, the son of Endymion, arrived from Elis and overpowered them in war, the Curetes withdrew to what is now called Acarnania, whereas the Aetolians came back with Epeians and founded the earliest of the cities of Aetolia, and in the tenth generation after that Elis was settled by Oxylus the son of Haemon, who had crossed over from Aetolia. And he cites as evidence of all this two inscriptions, the one at Therma in Aetolia (where it is their ancestral custom to hold their elections of magistrates), engraved on the base of the statue of Aetolus:

Founder of the country, once reared beside the eddies of the Alpheius, neighbor of the race-courses of Olympia, son of Endymion, this Aetolus has been set up by the Aetolians as a memorial of his valor to behold;

and the other inscription in the marketplace of the Eleians on the statue of Oxylus: Aetolus once left this autochthonous people, and through many a toil with the spear took possession of the land of Curetis; but the tenth scion of the same stock, Oxylus, the son of Haemon, founded this city in early times.

[3] Now through these inscriptions Ephorus correctly signifies the kinship of the Eleians and Aetolians with one another, since both inscriptions agree, not merely as to the kinship of the two peoples, but also that each people was the founder of the other, through which he successfully convicts of falsehood those who assert that, while the Eleians were indeed colonists of the Aetolians, the Aetolians were not colonists of the Eleians. But here, too, Ephorus manifestly displays the same inconsistency in his writing and his pronouncements as in the case of the oracle at Delphi, which I have already set forth; for, after saying that Aetolia has been undevastated throughout all times of which there is any record, and after saying also that in the beginning the Curetes held possession of this country, he should have added as a corollary to what he had already said that the Curetes continued to hold possession of the Aetolian land down to his own time, for only thus could it have been rightly said that the land had been undevastated and that it had never come under the power of others; and yet, utterly forgetting his promise, he does not add this, but the contrary, that when Aetolus arrived from Elis and overpowered the Curetes in war, they withdrew into Acarnania. What else, pray, is specifically characteristic of a devastation than being overpowered in war and abandoning the country? And this is evidenced also by the inscription among the Eleians, for Aetolus, it says, through many a toil with the spear took possession of the land of Curetis.

[4] Perhaps, however, one might say that Ephorus means that Aetolia was undevastated from the time when it got this name, that is, after Aetolus arrived there; but Ephorus has deprived himself of the argument in support of this idea by saying in his next words that this, meaning the tribe of the Epeians, constituted the greatest part of the people who stayed on among the Aetolians, but that later, when Aeolians, who at the same time with Boeotians had been compelled to migrate from Thessaly, were intermingled with them, they in common with these held possession of the country. Is it credible, pray, that without war they invaded the country of a different people and divided it up with its possessors, when the latter had no need of such a partnership? Or, since this is not credible, is it credible that those who were overpowered by arms came out on an equality with the victors? What else, pray, is devastation than being overpowered by arms? Apollodorus, also, says that, according to history, the Hyantes left Boeotia and settled among the Aetolians. But Ephorus, as though he had achieved success in his argument, adds: "It is my wont to examine such matters as these with precision, whenever any matter is either altogether doubtful or falsely interpreted."

[5] But though Ephorus is such, still he is better than others. And Polybius himself, who praises him so earnestly, and says concerning the Greek histories that Eudoxus indeed gave a good account, but Ephorus gave the best account of the foundings of cities, kinships, migrations, and original founders, "but I," he says, shall show the facts as they now are, as regards both the position of places and the distances between them; for this is the most appropriate function of Chorography. But assuredly you, Polybius, who introduce "popular notions" concerning distances, not only in dealing with places outside of Greece, but also when treating Greece itself, must also submit to an accounting, not only to Poseidonius, and to Apollodorus, but to several others as well. One should therefore pardon me as well, and not be vexed, if I make any mistakes when I borrow from such writers most of my historical material, but should rather be content if in the majority of cases I improve upon the accounts given by others, or if I add such facts as have elsewhere, owing to lack of knowledge, been left untold.

[6] Concerning the Curetes still further accounts, to the following effect, are given, some of them being more closely related to the history of the Aetolians and the Acarnanians, others more remotely. More closely related are such accounts as I have given before--that the Curetes were living in the country which is now called Aetolia, and that the Aetolians came with Aetolus and drove them into Acarnania; and also accounts of this kind, that, when Pleuronia was inhabited by the Curetes and was called Curetis, Aeolians made an invasion and took it away from them, and drove out its occupants. Archemachus the Euboean says that the

Curetes settled at Chalcis, but since they were continually at war for the Lelantine Plain

and the enemy would catch them by the front hair and drag them down,
he says, they let their hair grow long behind but cut short the part in front,
and because of this they were called "Curetes," from the cut of their hair,
and they then migrated to Aetolia, and, after taking possession of the region round Pleuron,
called the people who lived on the far side of the Acheloüs "Acarnanians," because they kept their heads "unshorn."

But some say that each of the two tribes got its name from a hero; others, that the Curetes were named after the mountain Curium, which is situated about Pleuron, and also that this is an Aetolian tribe, like the Ophians and the Agraeans and the Eurytanians and several others. But, as I have already stated, when Aetolia was divided into two parts, the region round Calydon, they say, was in the possession of Oeneus, whereas a certain part of Pleuronia was in the possession of the sons of Porthaon, that is, Agrius and his followers, if it be true that they lived in Pleuron and steep Calydon; the mastery over Pleuronia, however, was held by Thestius (the father-in-law of Oeneus and father of Althaea), who was leader of the Curetes;

but when war broke out between the sons of Thestius, on the one hand, and Oeneus and Meleager, on the other ( about the hog's head and skin, as the poet says, following the mythical story of the boar,

but in all probability about the possession of a part of the territory), according to the words of the poet, the Curetes were fighting, as also the Aetolians steadfast in battle. So much for the accounts which are more closely related.

Strabo Geography 10.3.7

In [10.3.7] Strabo continues, "The accounts which are more remotely related, however, to the present subject, but are wrongly, on account of the identity of the names, brought into the same connection by the historians--I mean those accounts which, although they are called "Curetan History" and "History of the Curetes," just as if they were the history of those Curetes who lived in Aetolia and Acarnania, not only are different from that history, but are more like the accounts of the Satyri, Sileni, Bacchae, and Tityri;

for the Curetes (clergy or priests), like these,
are called genii or ministers of gods by those who have
handed down to us the Cretan and the Phrygian traditions,
which are interwoven with certain sacred rites,
some mystical, the others connected in part
with the rearing of the child Zeus in Crete and
inpart with the orgies in honor of the mother of the gods
which are celebrated in Phrygia and in the region of the Trojan Ida.

Genun defines Jubal, Jabal, Tubal-Cain and Naamah who were all defined in terms of using instruments or weapons to steal other people's property.

Sileni: Greek woodland gods or spirits, closely connected to the satyrs. They were occasionally referred to as being half-man half-horse, in stead of half-man half-goat. The Sileni were portrayed as lechers and drunkards, bald-headed and pot-bellied, with thick lips and stub noses, and with the tails and ears of a horse. The flute and lyre are their attributes. The Sileni can often be found in the company of Dionysus. Later mentioned as only one Silenus, the tutor and companion of Dionysus.

THE SATYROI were rustic fertility Daimones (Spirits) of the wilderness and countryside. They were usually associated with the gods Dionysos, Rheia, Gaia, Hermes and Hephaistos; and were said to mate with the Nymphai in the mountains.

Satyroi were depicted as animal-like men with the tail of a horse, the ears of an ass, upturned pug noses, reclining hair-lines, and erect members.

As companions of Dionysos, they were depicted draped in animal skins, drinking, dancing, playing tambourines and flutes (the instruments of the Dionysian orgy) and sporting with the Nymphai Bakkhai.

They were also frequently shown in vase paintings, dancing around the goddess Gaia (Earth), rising up from the fertile earth.

Other closely related Daimones included: the Panes (goat-legged satyroi), and the Seilenoi (elderly satyroi). Child satyrs were known as Satyriskoi.

1Tim. 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
1Tim. 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
1Tim. 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 

Wrath is: 3709. orge, or-gay´; from 3713; properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment: anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.

Orgi-a , iôn, ta, A. secret rites, secret worship, practised by the initiated, a post-Hom. word ; used of the worship of Demeter at Eleusis, h.Cer.273,476. Ar.Ra.386, Th.948 ; of the rites of the Cabeiri and Demeter Achaia, Hdt.2.51,5.61; of Orpheus, Id.2.81; of Eumolpus, App.Anth.1.318 ; of Cybele, E.Ba.78 (lyr.): most freq. of the rites of Dionysus, Hdt.2.81, E.Ba.34, al., Theoc.26.13.

II. generally, rites, sacrifices, SIG57.4 (Milet., v B. C.), A.Th.179 (lyr.), S.Tr.765, Ant.1013 ; orgia Mousôn Ar.Ra.356 .

2. metaph., mysteries, without reference to religion, epistêmês Hp.Lex5 ; tois tês Aphroditês o. eilêmmenon Ar.Lys.832 , cf. Ach.Tat.4.1; ta Epikourou theophanta o. Metrod.38 .--The sg. orgion is rare, Jahresh.13Beibl.29 No.3 (Erythrae, iv B. C.), Luc.Syr.D.16, Orph.H.52.5. (Prob. cogn. with erdô, rhezô, cf. ergon, orgeôn.)

Mousa , ês, hê, Aeol. Moisa Sapph.84, IG42(1).130.16, etc.; Dor. Môsa Alcm. 1, etc.; Lacon. Môha (for Môsa) Ar.Lys.1298, cf. An. Ox.1.277:--Muse,

A. Olumpiades M., Dios aigiochoio thugateres Il.2.491 , cf. Hes.Th.25, etc.; nine in number, first in Od.24.60; named in Hes.Th.75 sqq.

II. mousa, as Appellat., music, song, m. stugera A.Eu.308 (anap.); euphamos Id.Supp.695 (lyr.); kanachan . . theias antiluron mousas S.Tr.643 (lyr.); Aiakôi moisan pherein Pi.N.3.28 ; tis hêde mousa; what strain is this ? E.Ion757; aluros m. Id.Ph.1028 (lyr.); dia mousas êixa Id.Alc.962 (lyr.): in Prose, aidein adokimon m. Pl.Lg. 829d : in pl., mousai Sphingos, of the Sphinx's riddle, E.Ph.50; esp. liberal arts, accomplishments, tas mousas aphanizôn Ar.Nu.972 ; apaideuton tôn peri tas numphikas m. Pl.Lg.775b : also in sg., tês alêthinês m. êmelêkenai Id.R.548b ; koinônein mousês ib.411c.

2. hautê hê Sôkratous m. that was Socrates's way, Gal.UP1.9.

But the variation in these accounts is so small that, whereas some represent the Corybantes, the Cabeiri, the Idaean Dactyli, and the Telchines as identical with the Curetes, others represent them as all kinsmen of one another and differentiate only certain small matters in which they differ in respect to one another;

but, roughly speaking and in general, they represent them, one and all, as a kind of inspired people and as subject to Bacchic frenzy, and, in the guise of ministers, as inspiring terror at the celebration of the sacred rites by means of war-dances, accompanied by uproar and noise and cymbals and drums and arms, and also by flute and outcry;

and consequently these rites are in a way regarded as having a common relationship, I mean these and those of the Samothracians and those in Lemnos and in several other places, because the divine ministers are called the same. However, every investigation of this kind pertains to theology, and is not foreign to the speculation of the philosopher.

Nietzsche.Tragedy

In these Greek festivals, for the first time nature achieves its artistic jubilee. In them, for the first time,

the tearing apart of the principii individuationis [the individualizing principle] becomes an artistic phenomenon.

Here that dreadful witches' potion of lust and cruelty was without power. The strange mixture and ambiguity in the emotions of the Dionysian celebrant remind him, as healing potions remind him of deadly poison, of that sense that pain awakens joy, that the jubilation in his chest rips out cries of agony.

From the most sublime joy echoes the cry of horror or the longingly plaintive lament over an irreparable loss.

In those Greek festivals it was as if a sentimental feature of nature is breaking out, as if nature has to sigh over her dismemberment into separate individuals.

The language of song and poetry of such a doubly defined celebrant was for the Homeric Greek world something new and unheard of.

Dionysian music especially awoke in that world fear and terror. If music was apparently already known as an Apollonian art, this music, strictly speaking, was a rhythmic pattern like the sound of waves, whose artistic power had developed for presenting Apollonian states of mind. The music of Apollo was Doric architecture expressed in sound, but only in intimate tones, characteristic of the cithara [a traditional stringed instrument}. The un-Apollonian character of Dionysian music keeps such an element of gentle caution at a distance, and with that turns music generally into emotionally disturbing tonal power, a unified stream of melody, and the totally incomparable world of harmony.  

Strabo Geography [10.3.8] But since also the historians, because of the identity of name of the Curetes, have classed together things that are unlike, neither should I myself shrink from discussing them at greater length, by way of digression, adding such account of their physical habits as is appropriate to history. And yet some historians even wish to assimilate their physical habits with those others, and perhaps there is something plausible in their undertaking.

For instance, they say that the Curetes (Musical Ministers of war) of Aetolia got this name because,

Like "girls," they wore women's clothes, for, they add, there was a fashion of this kind among the Greeks, and the Ionians were called "tunic-trailing,"

(Note: the Jews thought that John wore soft clothing which would identify him as a catamite - a male prostitute. And David got frenzied and stripped off his ephod which was derived from women's clothing)

and the soldiers of Leonidas were "dressing their hair" when they were to go forth to battle,

so that the Persians, it is said, conceived a contempt for them, though in the battle they marvelled at them.

And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. 2S.18:9

Speaking generally, the art of caring for the hair consists both in its nurture and in the way it is cut, and both are given special attention by "girls" and "youths"; (corai, curae) so that there are several ways in which it is easy to derive an etymology of the word "Curetes." It is reasonable to suppose,

also, that the war-dance was first introduced by persons who were trained in this particular way in the matter of hair and dress, these being called Curetes,

and that this dance afforded a pretext to those also who were more warlike than the rest and spent their life under arms, so that they too came to be called by the same name, "Curetes "-

I mean the Curetes in Euboea, Aetolia, and Acarnania. And indeed Homer applied this name to young soldiers, choose thou the noblest young men (Curetes) from all the Achaeans, and bring the gifts from the swift ship, all that we promised yesterday to Achilles"; and again, the young men of the Achaeans brought the gifts. So much for the etymology of the word "Curetes."

The war-dance was a soldiers' dance; and this is plainly indicated both by the "Pyrrhic dance," (Dionysiac dance) and by "Pyrrichus," who is said to be the founder of this kind of training for young men, as also by the treatises on military affairs (work of a soldier).

"The Pyrrhic dance of our time seems to be a sort of Dionysiac dance, being more respectable than that of early times, for the dancers have thyrsi instead of spears, and hurl them at one another, and carry fennel-stalks and torches" (Athenaeus 14.631b).

(Note: When Israel rejected the Theocratic rule of God, He gave them kings to lead them into battle and to victory, but to defeat them spiritually. After the wars, David and the commanders of the army employed the Levitical war musicians for rituals at the capital of the nation. Also Click Here for Chronicles.

Strabo [10.3.9] From Perseus: "But I must now investigate how it comes about that so many names have been used of one and the same thing, and the theological element contained in their history. Now this is common both to the Greeks and to the barbarians,

to perform their sacred rites in connection with the relaxation of a festival,
these rites being performed sometimes with religious frenzy, sometimes without it;
sometimes with music, sometimes not; and sometimes in secret, sometimes openly.

And it is in accordance with the dictates of nature that this should be so, for, in the

first place, the relaxation draws the mind away from human occupations and turns the real mind towards that which is divine; and,

secondly, the religious frenzy seems to afford a kind of divine inspiration and to be very like that of the soothsayer; and,

thirdly, the secrecy with which the sacred rites are concealed induces reverence for the divine, since it imitates the nature of the divine, which is to avoid being perceived by our human senses; and,

(The musical practices among the Levites were closely-held secrets even as musical ministers keep the profane out of their business.)

fourthly, music, which includes dancing as well as rhythm and melody, at the same time, by the delight it affords and by its artistic beauty,

"Together with song and music goes the dance, which is a common way of expressing the encounter with the body. The dance is a spontaneous human expression of the sense of rapture (raped), At a higher religious level it develops into an expression of the joy at the encounter with the Holy One, an act for the glory of God (II Samuel 6:20 ff)). It behooves one to give such visible and boisterous expression of the joy before Yahweh." (Sigmund Mowinckel, translated by D. R. Ap-Thomas, The Psalms in Israel's Worship (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), p. 10)

Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick (sumphonia) and dancing (choros, ring dance). Luke 15:25

brings us in touch with the divine, and this for the following reason;

for although it has been well said that human beings then act most like the gods when they are doing good to others,

yet one might better say, when they are happy; and such happiness consists of rejoicing, celebrating festivals, pursuing philosophy, and engaging in music;

for, if music is perverted when musicians turn their art to sensual delights
at symposiums and in orchestric and scenic performances and the like,
we should not lay the blame upon music itself, but should rather examine the nature of our system of education, since this is based on music.

"This is the first mention in the OT of a band of prophets. These were men who went about in companies and were able by means of music and dancing to work themselves up into a convulsive and ecstatic frenzy (2 Kings 3:1-10). Their abnormality was believed to be caused by the invasive influence of the spirit of god.

The word prophesied here does not mean either foretelling the future or preaching after the manner of the later prophets, but engaging in the ritual dance of the prophetic guild (19:18-24).

Their behavior was commonly regarded as a form of madness (2 Kings 9:11; Jeremiah 29:26)" (The Int. Bible Ency., I Sam. p. 932).

"It was probably usual to welcome a king or general with music and dancing...The distinctly religious dance is more frequently mentioned. The clear instances of it in the Bible are the dance of the women of Israel at the Red Sea, headed by Miriam with her tambourine (Exodus 15:20); the dance of the Israelites round the golden calf (Exodus 32:19); the dance of the maidens of Shiloah at the annual feast (Judges 21:19 ff); the leaping or limping of the prophets of Baal round their altar on Carmel (1 Kings 18:26); and the dancing of David in front of the ark (2 Samuel 6:14-16) (Int. Std. Bible Ency., p. 1169-70)

See Rubel Shelly / Max Lucado

Strabo Geography [10.3.10] And on this account Plato, and even before his time the Pythagoreians, called philosophy music; and

they say that the universe is constituted in accordance with harmony,
assuming that every form of music is the work of the gods.
And in this sense, also, the Muses are goddesses,
and Apollo is leader of the Muses,
and poetry as a whole is laudatory of the gods.

And by the same course of reasoning they also attribute to music the upbuilding of morals, believing that everything which tends to correct the mind is close to the gods.

Now most of the Greeks assigned to Dionysus, Apollo, Hecate, the Muses (9 women team), and above all to Demeter, everything of an orgiastic or Bacchic or choral nature, as well as the mystic element in initiations; and they give the name "Iacchus" not only to Dionysus but also to the leader-in-chief of the mysteries, who is the genius of Demeter.

[[Vol. 2, Page]] 45 THE HEBREW KADESHIM. the Eleusinian. Thus "Bacchus was directly called upon," he says. The Sabazian worship was Sabbatic; the names Evius, or Hevius, and Luaios are identical with Hivite and Levite.

The French name Louis is the Hebrew Levi; Iacchus again is Iao or Jehovah; and Baal or Adon, like Bacchus, was a phallic god.

"Who shall ascend into the hill (the HIGH place) of the Lord?" asks the holy king David, "who shall stand in the place of his Kadushu [[Heb char]]"? (Psalms xxiv. 3). Kadesh may mean in one sense to devote, hallow, sanctify, and even to initiate or to set apart; but it also means the ministers of lascivious rites (the Venus-worship) and the true interpretation of the word Kadesh is bluntly rendered in Deuteronomy xxiii. 17; Hosea iv. 14; and Genesis xxxviii., from verses 15 to 22. The "holy" Kadeshuth of the Bible were identical as to the duties of their office with the Nautch-girls of the later Hindu pagodas.

Deut 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

Deut 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

3611. keleb, keh´-leb; from an unused root means. to yelp, or else to attack; a dog; hence (by euphemism) a male prostitute:--dog. 

Hos 4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.

The Hebrew Kadeshim or galli lived "by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove," or bust of Venus-Astarte, says verse the seventh in the twenty-third chapter of 2 Kings. 

Orgi-astikos  of or for orgia, exciting, ouk estin ho aulos êthikon, alla . . orgiastikon Arist.Pol.1341a22 ; o. kai pathêtika ib.1342b3. Kin-êtikos A. of or for putting in motion, 2. metaph., urging on, exciting, logos k. pros aretên Aristo stimulating,  to melos B. esp. musical member, phrase: hence, song, strain, 2. music to which a song is set, tune, 3. melody of an instrument, Turbulant Similar: Instiga-tio , o-nis, f. [instigo] , an urging, stimulating, instigating, an incitement, instigation: auditorum, Auct. Her. 2, 30, 47 : novercalibus instigationibus corrupti, Dig. 5, 2, 4 : praedonum, Lact. 5, 19, 2 . histrio-na-lis , e, adj. [histrio] , of or belonging to a stage-player, like an actor (a word of Tac.): studium, Tac. A. 1, 16 : modi, id. Or. 26 : favor, id. ib. 29 Tacitus, The Annals BOOK 1: A.D. 14, 15 This was the beginning of demoralization among the troops, of quarreling, of listening to the talk of every pestilent fellow, in short, of craving for luxury and idleness and loathing discipline and toil.         In the camp was one Percennius, who had once been a leader of one of the theatrical factions, then became a common soldier, had a saucy tongue, and had learnt from his applause of actors how to stir up a crowd. By working on ignorant minds, which doubted as to what would be the terms of military service after Augustus, this man gradually influenced them in conversations at night or at nightfall, and when the better [p. 15] men had dispersed, he gathered round him all the worst spirits. Daimôn, Geni.Genius.Genun.Daimon.D.html Nor are these Thracian orgies, from which the word Worship (threskia) is said to be derived; nor rites and mysteries of Orpheus, whom the Greeks admired so much for his wisdom that they devised for him a lyre which draws all things by its music. "Singing served as a means of inducing ecstatic prophecy (speaking in tongues). Thus the essential relationship between music and prophecy can be clearly seen. This relationship also explains why the expression for "making music" and "prophesying" was often identical in the ancient tongues. origen contra celsum 8.67. The Hebrew word Naba signifies not only "to prophesy" but also "to make music." (Quasten, Johannes, Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, p. 39)   Nor the tortures of Mithras19 which it is just that those who can endure to be initiated into such things should suffer; nor the manglings of Osiris,20 another calamity honoured by the Egyptians; nor the ill-fortunes of Isis21 and the goats more venerable than the Mendesians, and the stall of Apis,22 the calf that luxuriated in the folly of the Memphites, nor all those honours with which they outrage the Nile, while themselves proclaiming it in song to be the Giver of fruits and corn, and the measurer of happiness by its cubits. 19 These Mysteries were of Persian origin, connected it is said with the worship of the SUN. The neophytes were mad to undergo twelve different kinds of torture. 20 The Egyptian Mysteries. 21 Zeus fell in love with Isis, and carried her off in the form of a heifer. Here, discovering the fraud, sent a gadfly, which drove Isis mad. 22 Apis, the sacred bull, worshipped at Memphis. The word in the Bible is: Threskos (g2357) thrace'-kos; prob. from the base of 2360; ceremonious in worship (as demonstrative), i.e. pious: - religious. Orge I. natural impulse or propension: one's temper, temperament, disposition, orgê , hê, II. passion, anger, wrath, 3. Panos orgai panic fears (i. e. terrors sent by Pan), Eur.:--but, orgê tinos anger against a person or at a thing, Soph.; hierôn orgas wrath at or because of the rites, Aesch. G3709 orge or-gay' From G3713 ; properly desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), that is, (by analogy) violent passion... wrath. G3713 oregomai; to stretch oneself, that is, reach out after (long for):covet after, desire. G3735 oros or'-os perhaps akin to G142 ; compare G3733 ); a mountain (as lifting itself above the plain): Orgi-a , iôn, ta, secret rites, secret worship, practised by the initiated, of the rites of the Cabeiri [homosexuals] and Demeter, of Orpheus, of Cybele, most freq. of the rites of Dionysus .2.81, E.Ba.34, al., Theoc.26.13. II. generally, RITES, orgia Mousôn [Rev 18:22] Ar.Ra.356 . Aphroditês [similar to Lucifer or Zoe]. Aiaz similar to the Musical Minstrels and the clanging brass.. Commentary on Vergil, Aeneid. book 6, line 645. [645] Orpheus was one of the mythical fathers of song, and his name was associated with revelations about the lower world, supposed to be preserved by secret societies (Dict. M. Orpheus), so that he is naturally made the harper who plays while the blessed spirits dance and sing. He is called `sacerdos,' as in Hor. A. P. 391 he is called sacer interpresque deorum. The long robe was characteristic of musicians, as Cerda shows, comp. Prop. 3. 23. 16, Pythius in longa carmina veste sonat (of the statue of Apollo in the Palatine temple), and also Hor. A. P. 215, Ov. F. 6. 654, 688, where the long robes of the `tibicines' are mentioned and accounted for. `Cum veste' above v. 359. Elsewhere we have `in veste,' as 12. 169, puraque in veste sacerdos.

while another causes to resound the bronze-bound cotylae (cups or cymbals)

krotos , hoA. rattling noise, made to collect a swarm of bees, Arist.HA 627a16; k. podôn beat of the feet in dancing, E.Heracl.783 (pl.), Tr. 546 both lyr.); k. sikinidôn Id.Cyc.37 ; ho tôn daktulôn k. snapping of the fingers, Ael.NA17.5; enoplios k. clash of arms, Plu.Mar.22; ho k. tôn logôn Luc.Dem.Enc.15 (but perh. 'welding'); hê euroia kai ho tês glôssês k. Philostr.VS2.25.6 ; rhuthmoio k. APl.4.226 (Alc. Mess.). 2. k. cheirôn clapping of hands, applause, Ar.Ra.157: abs., X.An.6.1.13, etc.; thorubon kai k . . . epoiêsate D.21.14 , cf. 19.195. b. in token of ridicule, gelôs kai k. Pl.La.184a .

 and again, 

[psalmos twitching] stringed instruments raise their shrill cry [alalazo], and frightful mimickers from some place unseen bellow like bulls, and the semblance (eikon or echo) of drums, as of subterranean thunder rolls along, a terrifying sound;

[alalazo] (formed from the cry al al ai): --raise the war-cry And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: Ezekiel 27:30 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. Ezekiel 27:31 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea? Ezekiel 27:32 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Amos 8:3 "And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Eze 27:3 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise." - Ezekiel 27:33. Re.18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 2. generally, cry, shout aloud, Pi.l.c., E.El.855; esp. in orgiastic rites, A.Fr.57; of Bacchus and Bacchae, E.Ba.593 (in Med.), 1133, etc.; ôloluxanhaigunaikes, êlalaxandehoiandres Hld.3.5 .

for these rites resemble the Phrygian rites, and it is at least not unlikely that, just as the Phrygians themselves were colonists from Thrace, so also their sacred rites were borrowed from there. Also when they identify Dionysus and the Edonian Lycurgus, they hint at the homogeneity of their sacred rites.  

THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 1 Cor 13:1

Sounding:

Echeo (g2278( ay-kheh'-o; from 2279; to make a loud noise, i.e. reverberate: - roar, sound.

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring Lu.21:25

Echos (g2279) ay'-khos; of uncert. affin.; a loud or confused noise ("echo"), i.e. roar: fig. a rumor: - fame, sound.

For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, Heb 12:18

And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: Heb.12:19

Brass is: Chalkos (g5475) khal-kos'; perh. from 5465 (great gulf) through the idea of hollowing out as a vessel (this metal being chiefly used for that purpose); copper (the substance, or some implement or coin made of it): - brass, money.

[10.3.17] From its melody and rhythm and instruments, all Thracian music has been considered to be Asiatic. And this is clear, first, from the places where the Muses have been worshipped,

Melpô [melos] I. to sing of, celebrate with song and dance, Il., Eur.; m. tina kata chelun Eur. 2. intr. to sing, Aesch., Eur.;-- c. acc. cogn., m. thanasimon goon Aesch.; iachan, boan Eur. II. also as Dep. melpomai to sing to the lyre or harp, Od.; to dance and sing, as a chorus, meta melpomenêisin en chorôi Il.; melpesthai Arêi to dance a war-dance in honour of Ares, i. e. to fight, id=Il. 2. c. acc., as in Act. to sing, celebrate, Hes., Eur. Rhuthmos I.measured motion, time, whether in sound or motion, 2. special phrases: enrhuthmôi in time, of dancing, marching Organon , to, ( [ergon, erdô] ) I. an implement, instrument, engine of any kind (mostly post-Aug.), Col. 3, 13, 12.--Of military or architectonic engines (whereas machina denotes one of a larger size and more complicated construction) A. instrument, implement, tool, for making or doing a thing 3.musical instrument, Simon.31, f.l. in A.Fr.57.1 Ergon  [Ergô] I.work, 1. in Il. mostly of deeds of war, polemêïaerga, 3.a hard piece of work, a hard task, Il.: also, a shocking deed or act, Mousikos MUSICA  The term mousikê signified the art or circle of arts over which the Muses presided, viz. poetry in its various kinds, with the music, whether of voice or instrument, required for its worthy presentation. The word which most nearly denotes what we call the science of Music is harmonikê, but that word does not include the subject of rhythm or time (rhuthmikê). Harmonic, therefore, deals only with sounds and their relations in respect of tune: Harmonikê estin epistêmê theôrêtikê kai praktikê tês tou hêrmosmenou phuseôs: hêrmosmenon de esti to ek phthongôn kai diastêmatôn poian taxin echontôn sunkeimenon (Pseudo-Euclid. Introd. Harm. p. 1). The ancient science of rhythm dealt not only with musical sounds, but with everything susceptible of rhythmical division, including (in particular) spoken language, and the movement of the dance. The Greek technical writers on Harmonic usually treat the subject under seven heads:--I. Of Sounds (peri phthongôn). II. Of Intervals (peri diastêmatôn). III. Of Genera (peri genôn). IV. Of Systems or Scales (peri sustêmatôn). V. Of Keys (peri tonôn1 ). VI. Of Transition (peri metabolês). VII. Of Composition (peri melopoiias). This division will be generally made use of in the present article.

 

for Pieria and Olympus and Pimpla and Leibethrum were in ancient times Thracian places and mountains, though they are now held by the Macedonians; and again, Helicon (home of Thespiaae and Eros) was consecrated to the Muses by the Thracians who settled in Boeotia, the same who consecrated the cave of the nymphs called Leibethrides.

And again, those who devoted their attention to the music of early times are called Thracians, I mean Orpheus, Thracians, and Thracians; and Thracians, (sweet singer) too, got his name from there.

And those writers who have consecrated the whole of Asia,
as far as India, to Dionysus, derive the greater part of music from there.

And one writer says, "striking the Asiatic cithara"; another calls flutes "Berecyntian" and "Phrygian"; and some of the instruments have been called by barbarian names, "nablas," "sambyce," "barbitos," "magadis," and several others.

Below: Barbarian lying on a bed with the Barbaton

10.3.18] Just as in all other respects the Athenians continue to be hospitable to things foreign,

so also in their worship of the gods;
for they welcomed so many of the foreign rites
that they were ridiculed therefore by comic writers;
..........and among these were the Thracian and Phrygian rites.

For instance, the Bendideian rites are mentioned by Plato, and the Phrygian by Demosthenes,

when he casts the reproach upon Aeschines' mother and Aeschines himself
that he was with her when she conducted initiations,

that he joined her in leading the Dionysiac march,
and that many a time he cried out "evoe saboe," and "hyes attes, attes hyes"; (Eve, Zoe, etc)
for these words are in the ritual of Sabazius (Dionysus) and the Mother.

[10.3.19] Further, one might also find, in addition to these facts concerning these genii (spirits or demons) and their various names, that they were called,

not only ministers of gods,
but also gods themselves.

Worship Drama - Mediators between God and Man

For instance, Hesiod says that five daughters were born to Hecaterus and the daughter of Phoroneus, from whom sprang the mountain-ranging nymphs, goddesses,

and the breed of Satyrs (Effeminate musical clergy),
creatures worthless and unfit for work,
and also the Curetes, sportive gods, dancers.

And the author of Phoronis speaks of the

Curetes as "flute-players" and "Phrygians"; and
others as "earth-born" and "wearing brazen shields."

See Judas whos "bag" was for carrying the mouthpieces of wind instruments with which he wanted to triumph over Jesus (Psalm 41). This bag is named after "speaking in tongues" and "of the world" or Kosmos. Paul identified tongue speakers in church as like Barbarians.

Some call the Corybantes, and not the Curetes, "Phrygians," but the Curetes "Cretes," and say that the Cretes were the first people to don brazen armour in Euboea, and that on this account they were also called "Chalcidians"; (chalc, brazen) still others say that the Corybantes, who came from Bactriana (some say from among the Colchians. Also a note: "they occupied Bactriana, and acquired possession of the best land in Armenia"), were given as armed ministers to Rhea by the Titans. (See the Chalkos or sounding brass in 1 Corinthians 13)

But in the Cretan accounts the

Curetes are called "rearers of Zeus," and "protectors of Zeus,"
having been summoned from Phrygia to Crete by Rhea. Some say that, of the nine Telchines who lived in Rhodes, those who accompanied Rhea to Crete and "reared" Zeus "in his youth" were named "Curetes"; and that Cyrbas, a comrade of these, who was the founder of Hierapytna, afforded a pretext to the Prasians for saying among the Rhodians that

the Corybantes were certain genii, sons of Athena and Helius.
Further, some call the Corybantes sons of Cronus (Saturn)
but others say that the Corybantes were sons of Zeus and Calliope and were identical with the Cabeiri, and that these went off to Samothrace, which in earlier times was called Melite, and that their rites were mystical.

To define the Geni we repeat:

for the Curetes (clergy or priests), like these, are called genii or ministers of gods by those who have handed down to us the Cretan and the Phrygian traditions,

which are interwoven with certain sacred rites, some mystical, the others connected in part with the rearing of the child Zeus in Crete and

inpart with the orgies in honor of the mother of the gods which are celebrated in Phrygia and in the region of the Trojan Ida.

Strabo Geography 10.3.21

The Scepsian says that it is probable that the Curetes and the Corybantes were the same,

being those who had been accepted as young men, or "youths," for the war-dance
in connection with the holy rites of the Mother of the gods, and also as "corybantes" from the fact that they "walked with a butting of their heads" in a dancing way. These are called by the poet "betarmones": (Harmony-walkers.)
Come now, all ye that are the best 'betarmones' of the Phaeacians (Near of kin to the gods).

And because the Corybantes ("To butt with the head" and "walk")

are inclined to dancing and to religious frenzy, we say
of those who are stirred with frenzy
that they are "corybantising."

Because the Corinthians were at the heart of corybantising, to imitate them was called to "Corinthianize."

[22] Some writers say that the name "Idaean Dactyli" was given to the first settlers of the lower slopes of Mt. Ida, for the lower slopes of mountains are called "feet," and the summits "heads"; accordingly, the several extremities of Ida (all of which are sacred to the Mother of the gods) were called Dactyli. Sophocles thinks that the

first male Dactyli were five in number, who were the first to discover and to work iron, as well as many other things which are useful for the purposes of life, and that their sisters were five in number, and that they were called Dactyli from their number.

But different writers tell the myth in different ways, joining difficulty to difficulty; and both the names and numbers they use are different; and they name one of them "Celmis" and others "Damnameneus" and "Heracles" and "Acmon." Some call them natives of Ida, others settlers;

but all agree that iron was first worked by these on Ida;
and all have assumed that they were wizards and attendants of the Mother of the gods,

"The main function of music in the early times of biblical history were social merrymaking, marital noisemaking, magic incantation, and worship. Merry-making in particular was the main function of music during the age of patriarchs and judges (e.G. Gen. 31:27; Exod. 32:17-18; Judg. 11:34-35), sometimes even licentiously practiced (e.G., Isa. 23:16). (The Int. Std. Bible Dict., p. 457).

and that they lived in Phrygia about Ida; and they use the term Phrygia for the Troad because, after Troy was sacked, the Phrygians, whose territory bordered on the Troad, got the mastery over it.

And they suspect that both the Curetes and the Corybantes were offspring of the Idaean Dactyli;

at any rate, the first hundred men born in Crete were called Idaean Dactyli, they say, and as offspring of these were born nine Curetes, and each of these begot ten children who were called Idaean Dactyli.

[23] I have been led on to discuss these people rather at length, although I am not in the least fond of myths, because the facts in their case border on the province of theology. And theology as a whole must examine early opinions and myths,

since the ancients expressed enigmatically the physical notions which they entertained concerning the facts and always added the mythical element to their accounts.

Now it is not easy to solve with accuracy all the enigmas, but if the multitude of myths be set before us, some agreeing and others contradicting one another, one might be able more readily to conjecture out of them what the truth is.

For instance, men probably speak in their myths about the "mountain-roaming" of religious zealots and of gods themselves,

and about their "religious frenzies," for the same reason that they are prompted to believe that the gods dwell in the skies and show forethought, among their other interests, for prognostication by signs.

Now seeking for metals, and hunting, and searching for the things that are useful for the purposes of life, are manifestly closely related to mountain-roaming,

whereas juggling and magic are closely related to religious frenzies, worship, and divination. And such also is devotion to the arts, in particular to the Dionysiac and Orphic arts. But enough on this subject.

Strabo 14.2.[26] Alabanda is also situated at the foot of hills, two hills that are joined together in such a way that they present the appearance of an ass laden with panniers. And indeed Apollonius Malacus, in ridiculing the city both in regard to this and in regard to the large number of scorpions there, said that it was an "ass laden with panniers of scorpions." Both this city and Mylasa are full of these creatures, and so is the whole of the mountainous country between them. Alabanda is a city of people who live in luxury and debauchery, containing many girls who play the harp.

The word is NOT psallo but a word which means A FEMALE HARP PLAYER: she plays the harp.

Psaltrias = A. female harper, Pl.Prt. 347d, Ion Trag.22, Arist.Ath.50.2, Men.319.4, Plu.Caes.10, al.

And here is what you CONFESS if you use ANY such "authority" for the assembly:

Plato Protagoras: Socrates [347d] such is their lack of education--put a premium on flute-girls by hiring the extraneous voice of the flute at a high price, and carry on their intercourse by means of its utterance.

But where the party consists of thorough gentlemen who have had a proper education, you will see neither flute-girls [aulêtridas] nor dancing-girls [orchêstridas] nor harp-girls,

but only the company contenting themselves with their own conversation, and none of these fooleries and frolics--each speaking and listening decently in his turn,

And THAT is what Paul directly commanded when he OUTLAWED the pleasuring which was part of the Orphic and Dionysic sects in Rome.

The LOWER CLASSES or uneducated used musicians as backup for conversation.

The educated or gentlemen DO NOT permit the musicians in their company.

See universal picture of a worship leader.

Plutarch, Symposium: Then, said Eryximachus, as you are all agreed that drinking is to be voluntary, and that there is to be no compulsion, I move, in the next place, that the flute-girl, 
      who has just made her appearance, be told to go away and play to herself,
      or, if she likes, to the women who are within (compare Prot.).

To-day let us have conversation instead; and, if you will allow me, I will tell you what sort of conversation. This proposal having been accepted, Eryximachus proceeded as follows:--  "Now, many a man from the false religions, which are not ashamed of criticising what is noble, will ask: how can there be a feast without carousing and overeating, without the pleasant company of hosts and guests, without quantities of unmixed wine, without richly set tables and highly stacked provisions of everything that pertains to a banquet, without pageantry and jokes,

bantering and merry-making to the accompaniment of flutes and citharas, the sound of drums and cymbals and other effeminate and frivolous music of every king,

enkindling unbridled lusts with the help of the sense of hearing. For in and through the same [pleasures] those persons openly seek their joy, for what true joy is their they do not know.

"Women and girls from the different ranks of society were proud to enter the service of the gods as singers and musicians. The understanding of this service was universal: these singers constituted the 'harem of the gods'." (End of Quasten)

Plutarch.Symposium.html

Athenian Constitution: 50.1L. These then are the matters administered by the Council. Also ten men are elected by lot as Restorers of Temples, who draw 30 minae from the Receivers and repair the temples that most require it; and ten City Controllers, [2] five of whom hold office in Peiraeus and five in the city; it is they who supervise the flute-girls and harp-girls and lyre-girls to prevent their receiving fees of more than two drachmas, and if several persons want to take the same girl these officials cast lots between them and hire her out to the winner. And they keep watch to prevent any scavenger from depositing ordure within a mile and a quarter of the wall; and they prevent the construction of buildings encroaching on and balconies overhanging the roads, of overhead conduits with an overflow into the road, and of windows opening outward on to the road; and they remove for burial the bodies of persons who die on the roads, having public slaves for this service.

Plutarch, Lives Caesar IX

Is a major authority for making Psallo which is a warfare - pollution word beginning as late as 1878 and promoted primarily by O.E.Payne and lately by Tom Burgess and all of the instrumentalists:

besides, it is not lawful for any man to be present at their sacrifices, no, not within the house itself where they are made. 
        Furthermore they say, that the women in these sacrifices
        do many things amongst themselves, much like unto the ceremonies of Orpheus.  
Now when the time of this feast came, the husband (whether he were Praetor or Consul) and all his men and the boys in the house, do come out of it, and leave it wholly to his wife, to order the house at her pleasure, and there the sacrifices and ceremonies are done the most part of the night, and they do besides pass the night away in songs and music.

1Th. 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
     1Th. 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober,
         putting on the breastplate of faith and love; 
         and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
      1Th. 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, 

              [The orgy Paul warned about when women 'lift unholy arms and
               wave them  around.]

         but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph. 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Eph. 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
    Eph. 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light:
            for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
                [That explains why 1/3 to 1/2 of a congregation flees]
    Eph. 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
            and Christ shall give thee light.
    Eph. 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly [straight], not as fools, but as wise,
    Eph. 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
    Eph. 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
    Eph. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
    Eph. 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [the text]
            singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

X. Pompeia, Caesar's wife, being that year to celebrate this feast, Clodius, who had yet no hair on his face, and thereby thought he should not be bewrayed [betrayed] , disguised himself in a singing wench's apparel, because his face was very like unto a young wench. He finding the gates open, being secretly brought in by her chambermaid that was made privy unto it, she left him, and ran to Pompeia her mistress, to tell her that he was come. The chamber-maid tarried long before she came again, insomuch as Clodius, being weary waiting for her where she left him, he took his pleasure and went from one place to another in the house, which had very large rooms in it, still shunning the light; and was by chance met withal  by one of Aurelia's maids, who taking him for a woman, prayed her to play. Clodius refusing to play, the maid pulled him forward, and asked him what he was: Clodius then answered her, that he tarried for Abra, one of Pompeia's women. So Aurelia's maid, knowing him by his voice, ran straight where the lights and ladies were, and cried out, that there was a man disguised in woman's apparel. The women therewith were so amazed, that Aurelia caused them presently 3 to leave off the ceremonies of the [p. 51] sacrifice, and to hide their secret things; and having seen the gates fast locked, went immediately up and down the house with torch-light to seek out this man: who at the last was found out in the chamber of Pompeia's maid, with whom he hid himself. Thus Clodius being found out, and known of the women, they thrust him out of the doors by the shoulders. The same night the women told their husbands of this chance as soon as they came home.

The Spirit of Christ warned about this throught Isaiah as did John in Revelation 17-18

Isaiah III. For, behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, The whole supply of bread, And the whole supply of water;  [2]  The mighty man, The man of war, The judge, The prophet, The diviner, The elder,  [3]  The captain of fifty, The honorable man, The counselor, The skilled craftsman, And the clever enchanter.  [4]  I will give boys to be their princes, And children shall rule over them

Boys: Effemino II.Trop., to make womanish, effeminate, to enervate, A.Womanish, effeminate,
            Histrio, stage-player, actor, mimus, boaster, used with
            Scaena, 1. Of a place like a scene of a theatre, school of rhetoric, display of eloquence.
            Paul OUTLAWED this by the SELF-pleasure while the Latin includes the scanea in Rom 15.
B. In mal. part., that submits to unnatural lust: pathicus, Cinaedos: a sodomite, catamite, one who dances publicly

Jesus in pointing out the fulfilment of Isaiah 3 in His time asked:

    Matt. 11:8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
             behold, they that wear soft [Catamites] clothing are in kings’ houses.
    Matt. 11:16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
             It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
    Matt. 11:17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced;
             we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

Strabo 9

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