EVROPOS: In Evropos, a village in northern Greece, Danis Koumartzis carves out the wooden sound box of a traditional lyre before covering it with animal hide and attaching nine strings that when plucked resemble the sound of a modern day guitar.

Koumartzis, 41, is continuing a family tradition focusing on making replicas of ancient Greek musical instruments based on old images on frescoes and vases going back centuries.

“It all started with our father, he started it initially as a hobby. He used to make other kinds of instruments, mainly Greek traditional instruments,” Koumartzis said at his workshop, whose walls are covered with pictures of ancient instruments and their modern-day replicas.

“At some point, about 12 years ago, we dared and made the first replica instrument, an ancient Greek musical instrument, which was a lyre of Hermes,” he said, referring to the Greek god who, according to legend, invented the instrument.

The instruments are bought by professional musicians, composers, academics and collectors, and have been used in films, including the recent remake of the classic Hollywood movie Ben Hur. Those that play the instruments today see them as a window to the past.

“In some way, the lyre, as an emotion, creates a feeling that is otherworldly,” said Giorgos Tsomeidis, 22, a student of the ancient Greek lyre in the city of Thessaloniki.

“Ancient Greek music, for me, is a way of initiation, I would say, a meeting with the past, and through it you can also open gates to the future.”

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024