The Role of Dance in Ancient Greece

There were many occasions in ancient Greece where people danced, especially since rhythmic physical exercise and pall playing were also considered dance. The ancient Greeks would dance at weddings, symposiums (which were all male drinking parties), and events like Greek theatre which saw choreographed performances by the chorus. Dance is an element of the mousike in ancient Greek literature, which is a term that includes all types of performing arts from music and dance to singing and recitation, but there is evidence that suggests it was also practised as an independent skill.

We have evidence of ancient Greek dance all the way back to the second millennium BCE on Crete from the Minoan civilisation. Classical Greek writers attribute the birthplace of several kinds of dance to Knossos and the island of Crete. Seals and gold rings found across the island at sites like Isopata and Hagia Triada show depictions of dancing women, usually in a religious context, along with wall paintings at Knossos and female dancing figurines that were found at Palaikastro. Dancers were commonly depicted in both historical and mythological ancient Greek literature with the most infamous dancers being the satyrs and maenads who were companions of the god of wine and revelry, Dionysus. The satyrs are mischievous and merry half-men-half-goats who were more often than not dancing and chasing young women (usually Maenads).

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— CHAPTERS —
0:00​ Introduction
1:11 Dance in Ancient Greece
2:08 The History of Dance in Greece
2:56 Types of Dance in Ancient Greece
4:20 Dancing in Greek Mythology
5:36 Outro

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— ATTRIBUTIONS —

The music used in this recording is the intellectual copyright of Michael Levy, a prolific composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity, and used with the creator's permission. Michael Levy's music is available to stream at all the major digital music platforms. Find out more on:

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Mark Cartwright

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

World History Encyclopedia

#ancientgreekdance #ancientdance #ancientgreece

[WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Why do you think dance was so important in religion and ritual in ancient Greece?

[stevenbrown]

Dance and singing were ubiquitous in ancient religion all the way back to the Sumerian civilization. I’m sure it goes back tens of thousands of years before that. Nice video. Thanks for posting.

[olorin]

You do good work. I like the videos about lesser known cultural eccentricities.

[clivesmith]

What did you think the Ancient Greeks would do without internet? 😊❤

[kittentmv]

Do you happen to have anything about the place of dance in Greek drama ?

[Tekmirion]

Nice Kelly! Check also Loukianos "Περι Ορσχήσεως" and you will understand all the prinicipals and what was the role of the dance in all ancient world!

[hellasboy]

Well done! Just get the pronunciation correct lol, very Aussie so far lmaoo 🤣

[jonykled]

Apreciando a una mujer tan hermosa. 2:8 sentadillas son unos X18TINDER.Uno muchas y un buen ejercicio. 5:25 Se deja ver que hay muy buenos resultados 😍👍 Saludos desde la Cd.. de world losf mortales abian apreciado tan hermosa mujer