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{{Short description|Ancient Greek wind instrument}}
{{Infobox Instrument
|name=Aulos
|names=
|image= Banquet Euaion Louvre G467 n2 cropped.jpg
|caption= Man playing aulos, Attic red-figure cup painted by the Euaion Painter, 460 B.C.–450 B.C.
| background            = woodwind
| classification        = [[woodwind]]
| hornbostel_sachs      = [[Reed aerophone]]s: 422.121.2
| hornbostel_sachs_desc =  [[Double reed]] instruments – There are two lamellae which beat against one another, double oboes with fingerholes.
|range=
|related=
<div class="center">[[Launeddas]]{{·}}[[Rhaita]]{{·}}[[Shawm]]{{·}}[[Sopila]]<br />[[Sorna]]{{·}}[[Suona]]{{·}}[[Tibia (reedpipe)|Tibia]]{{·}}[[Tsampouna]]{{·}}[[Tulum (bagpipe)|Tulum]]{{·}}[[Zampogna]]{{·}}[[Zurna]]</div>
|sound sample=[[File:Aulos 001.ogv|100px|center]]
}}
{{wikt}}

An '''''aulos''''' (plural '''''auloi''''';<ref>{{Cite MW|aulos|accessdate=2024-07-02}}</ref> {{langx|grc|αὐλός}} : {{grc-tr|αὐλός}}, plural {{lang|grc|αὐλοί}} : {{grc-tr|αὐλοί}})<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dau%29lo%2Fs αὐλός], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> or {{langx|la|[[tibia (reedpipe)|tibia]]}} was a [[wind instrument]] in [[Music of ancient Greece| ancient Greece]], often depicted in  [[Tomb of the Diver|art]] and also attested by [[classical archaeology|archaeology]].

Though the word ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or as "[[double flute]]", the instrument was usually [[double-reed|double-reeded]], and its sound—described as "penetrating, insisting and exciting"—was more akin to that of modern woodwind instruments such as [[Oboe|oboes]] or [[bagpipes]] with a [[chanter]] and (modulated) [[Drone (music) |drone]].<ref>The History of Musical Instruments, Curt Sachs, 1940</ref><ref>Arosemena-Ott, G. W. (2019). The aulos and tibia: Variation across the Ancient Mediterranean’s principal woodwind. ''Conservatory Students Academic Work.'' [https://spiral.lynn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=conservatory_studentpubs]</ref>

An '''aulete''' ({{Lang|grc|αὐλητής}} : {{grc-tr|αὐλητής}}) was the musician who performed on an ''aulos''. The [[Music of ancient Rome|ancient Roman equivalent]] was the '''''tibicen''''' (plural ''tibicines''), from the Latin ''tibia,'' "pipe, ''aulos''." The [[neologism]] '''aulode''' is sometimes used by analogy with ''[[rhapsode]]'' and ''citharode'' ([[citharede]]) to refer to an ''aulos''-player, who may also be called an '''aulist'''; however, ''aulode'' more commonly refers to a singer who sang the accompaniment to a piece played on the aulos.

==Background==
[[File:Britannica Aulos Beak Mouthpiece.jpg|thumb|304x304px|left|Drawing of the mouthpiece of an ''aulos''.<ref>Based on archaeological remains found at [[Pompeii]]</ref>]]
There were several kinds of ''aulos'', single or double. The most common variety was a reed instrument.<ref name="Howard" /> Archeological finds, surviving iconography and other evidence indicate that it was [[double-reed]]ed, like the modern [[oboe]], but with a larger mouthpiece, like the surviving [[Armenia]]n [[duduk]].<ref name="West">{{cite book |last= West |first= Martin L. |title=Ancient Greek Music |publisher= [[Clarendon Press]] |quote="The single reed or clarinet mouthpiece was known to other ancient peoples, and I should not venture to assert that it was not known to the Greeks. But the evidence of both art and literature indicates that it was the double reed that was standard in the Classical period. Under the Hornbostel-Sachs system, therefore, the aulos should be classified as an oboe. It must be admitted that 'oboe-girl' is less evocative than the 'flute-girl' to which classicists have been accustomed, and that when it is a question of translating Greek poetry 'oboe' is likely to sound odd. For the latter case I favor 'pipe' or 'shawm.'" |date=January 1992 |isbn= 0-19-814975-1 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=So-Qpz6WDS4C&pg=PA84 }}</ref> A single pipe without a [[Reed (instrument)|reed]] was called the ''monaulos'' ([[wikt:μόναυλος|μόναυλος]], from μόνος "single").<ref name="Howard">{{cite journal|last=Howard|first=Albert A.|year=1893|title=The Αὐλός or Tibia|journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology|publisher=Department of the Classics, Harvard University|volume=4|pages=1–60|doi=10.2307/310399|jstor=310399}}<!--| access-date = 2006-08-16 --></ref> A single pipe held horizontally, as the modern flute, was the ''plagiaulos'' (πλαγίαυλος, from πλάγιος "sideways").<ref name="Howard"/> A pipe with a bag to allow for continuous sound (a [[bagpipe]]) was the ''askaulos'' (ἀσκαυλός from ἀσκός ''askos'' "[[wineskin]]").<ref name="google15">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOfuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|title=The story of the bagpipe|first=William Henry Grattan|last=Flood|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=9781176344228|access-date=21 April 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Like the [[Great Highland Bagpipe]], the ''aulos'' has been used for [[Military band|martial music]],  but it is more frequently depicted in other social settings.<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+1.17.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 1.17.1], on Perseus</ref> A normal flute would produce insufficient volume to be of any use in military application, where a [[double-reed]] could be heard over larger distances, and over the clamour of marching whilst wearing armour. It was the standard accompaniment of the passionate [[elegiac couplet#Greek origins|elegiac poetry]]. It also accompanied physical activities such as wrestling matches, the broad jump, the discus throw and to mark the rowing cadence on [[trireme]]s, as well as sacrifices and dramas.<ref name="West" /> [[Plato]] associates it with the ecstatic cults of [[Dionysus]] and the [[Korybantes]], banning it from his ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]''<ref>''Rep'' 399d</ref> but permitting it in his ''[[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]]''.

Players of the aulos used a tool known as the ''Phorbeia'' or the ''Capistrum''. It was a device that consisted of two straps. One was placed on top of the head and another was placed on the back of the head and stretched from ear to ear to support the cheeks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Timothy J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzyVADDprSUC |title=Music in Roman Comedy |date=2012-04-19 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00648-5 |pages=44 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bundrick |first=Sheramy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgSuo-A3cO8C |title=Music and Image in Classical Athens |date=2005-10-17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=35 |isbn=978-0-521-84806-0 |language=en}}</ref> It was used by ancient musicians to play the aulos by allowing them to create noise through circular breathing and steady the instrument.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanson |first=Victor Davis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2WIAgAAQBAJ |title=Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience |date=2002-11-01 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-96190-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Murray |first1=Penelope |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tC79KhiftxMC |title=Music and the Muses: The Culture of 'mousikē' in the Classical Athenian City |last2=Wilson |first2=Peter |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-924239-9 |page=201 |language=en}}</ref> It may have also been used to prevent the reeds of the instrument from falling down the throat of the player.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Montagu |first=Jeremy |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1ztKVmMbSsC |title=Origins and Development of Musical Instruments |date=2007-10-29 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7770-2 |language=en}}</ref> Another potential use for the ''phrobeia'' was holding the [[Lip|lips]] in place, taking some strain off of the lip muscles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Landels |first=John G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7u6FAgAAQBAJ |title=Music in Ancient Greece and Rome |date=2002-01-31 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-70486-6 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Britannica Aulos Plagiaulos.jpg|thumb|Drawing of a ''plagiaulos''.]]
Although aristocrats with sufficient leisure sometimes practiced aulos-playing as they did the [[lyre]], after the later fifth century the aulos became chiefly associated with professional musicians, often slaves. Nevertheless, such musicians could achieve fame. The Romano-Greek writer [[Lucian]] discusses aulos playing in his dialogue ''Harmonides'', in which [[Alexander the Great]]'s aulete [[Timotheus (aulist)|Timotheus]] discusses fame with his pupil Harmonides. Timotheus advises him to impress the experts within his profession rather than seek popular approval in big public venues. If leading musicians admire him, popular approval will follow. However, Lucian reports that Harmonides died from excessive blowing during practicing.

==Mythic origin==
{{Main|Marsyas}}
[[File:Sarcophagus Apollo Marsyas Louvre Ma2347.jpg|thumb|350px|The competition between Marsyas and Apollo on a Roman [[sarcophagus]] (290–300)]]
In myth, [[Marsyas]] the [[satyr]] was supposed to have invented the aulos, or else picked it up after [[Athena]] had thrown it away because it caused her cheeks to puff out and ruined her beauty. In any case, he challenged [[Apollo]] to a musical contest, where the winner would be able to "do whatever he wanted" to the loser—Marsyas's expectation, typical of a satyr, was that this would be sexual in nature. But Apollo and his lyre beat Marsyas and his aulos.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nawarecki |first=Aleksander |date=2025 |title=Aulos. Passion of Life | url=https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105006557659?origin=resultslist |journal=Konteksty |volume=348 |issue=1 |publisher=Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences |pages=69-67 |doi=10.36744/k.3691 |access-date=2025-10-21|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Pompeii - Casa del Poeta Tragico - Theater 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Theatrical scene from a [[Pompeii]]an [[mosaic]] showing a performer with an aulos and phorbeiá.]]
Marsyas's blood and the tears of the Muses formed the river Marsyas in Asia Minor.<ref name=goldhill>{{cite book|editor=Simon Goldhill |editor2=Ron Osborne|title=Performance Culture and Athenian Democracy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=2004}}</ref>

This tale was a warning against committing the sin of "[[hubris]]", or overweening pride, in that Marsyas thought he might win against a god. Strange and brutal as it is, this myth reflects a great many cultural tensions that the Greeks expressed in the opposition they often drew between the lyre and aulos: freedom vs. servility and tyranny, leisured amateurs vs. professionals, moderation ([[sophrosyne]]) vs. excess, etc. Some of this is a result of 19th century AD "classical interpretation", i.e. [[Apollonian and Dionysian|Apollo versus Dionysus]], or "Reason" (represented by the kithara) opposed to "Madness" (represented by the aulos). In the temple to Apollo at Delphi, there was also a shrine to Dionysus, and his Maenads are shown on drinking cups playing the aulos, but Dionysus is sometimes shown holding a [[kithara]] or lyre. So a modern interpretation can be a little more complicated than just simple duality.

This opposition is mostly an Athenian one.  It might be surmised that things were different at [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], which was a center of aulos-playing.  At [[Sparta]]—which had no Bacchic or Korybantic cults to serve as contrast—the aulos was actually associated with Apollo, and accompanied the [[hoplites]] into battle.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/hoplite/|title=Hoplite|work=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2018-01-30}}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Depiction in art==
=== Chigi vase ===
The battle scene on the [[Chigi vase]] shows an aulos player setting a lyrical rhythm for the [[hoplite]] [[phalanx]] to advance to. This accompaniment reduced the possibility of an opening in the formation of the blockage; the aulete had a fundamental role in ensuring the integrity of the phalanx. In this particular scene, the phalanx approaching from the left is unprepared and momentarily outnumbered four to five. More soldiers can be seen running up to assist them from behind. Even though the front four are lacking a fifth soldier, they have the advantage because the aulete is there to bring the formation back together.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hurwit|first=Jeffrey M.|title=Reading the Chigi Vase|journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens|volume=71|issue=1|year=2002|pages=1–22|doi=10.2972/hesp.2002.71.1.1|jstor=3182058|s2cid=190736363}}</ref>

=== Herakles in his tenth labor ===
An amphora from {{circa|540}}–530 BC depicts [[Herakles]] in the process of completing his [[Labours of Hercules|tenth labor]]. Auletes can be seen playing in a procession going around on the neck of the amphora.<ref name=moore>{{cite journal|last=Moore|first=Mary B.|title=Herakles Takes Aim: A Rare Attic Black-Figured Neck-Amphora Attributed to the Princeton Painter|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=48|year=2013|pages=37–58|doi=10.1086/675312|s2cid=191490792}}</ref> 
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:Herakles tenth labor.jpg|Herakles tenth labor
File:Neck of herakles amphora.jpg|Neck of Herakles' tenth labor amphora
File:Side b of body of herakles neck amphora.jpg|Geryon side of Herakles' tenth labor
File:Side B of neck of black figure amphora.jpg|Neck of Geryon side of Herakles' tenth labor amphora
</gallery>

==Modern use and popular culture==
The sounds of the aulos are being digitally recreated by the Ancient Instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application (ASTRA) project which uses [[physical modeling synthesis]] to simulate the aulos sounds. Due to the complexity of this process the ASTRA project uses grid computing to model sounds on hundreds of computers throughout Europe simultaneously.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.astraproject.org/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627231112/http://www.astraproject.org/index.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=27 June 2015|title=The ASTRA Project website|date=27 June 2015|access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.isgtw.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905091435/http://www.isgtw.org/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 September 2015|title=iSGTW {{pipe}} iSGTW|date=5 September 2015|access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref>

The aulos is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, alongside other ancient instruments which ASTRA have recreated the sounds of, including the [[epigonion]], the [[salpinx]], the [[barbiton]] and the [[Syrinx (instrument)|syrinx]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1001954|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902021150/http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1001954|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 September 2009|title=Feature - The Lost Sounds Orchestra|date=2 September 2009|access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref>

The aulos was also featured in the 2009 movie [[Agora (film)|''Agora'']], wherein a character performs a solo in an amphitheatre. It is also visible in the 2007 movie [[300 (film)|''300'']].

Various [[double flute]]s still exist in [[Southeastern Europe]]. In southern [[Albania]], a double non-free [[aerophone]] – called the cula diare or cyla dyjare – is still played in the [[Labëria]] region to accompany [[Albanian iso-polyphony]]. It has been claimed that this instrument shares a history with the aulos.<ref>Eno Koço, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zoPI3exolloC&dq=cyla+dyjare&pg=PA112 "Vocal Iso(n)"], Art and Humanities Research Council (British Research Council), July 2012</ref> These instruments are primary [[fipple]] flutes, not double-reeded like the aulos of antiquity.

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:Attic red-figure column-krater attributed to the Hephaistos Painter, dating c. 450 – c. 425 BCE, depicting a sympotic scene, Eskenazi Museum of Art.jpg|Attic red-figure [[column-krater]] attributed to the Hephaistos Painter, dating c. 450 – c. 425 BCE, depicting a [[hetaira]] playing the aulos at a [[symposium]] for two men holding lyres, [[Eskenazi Museum of Art]]
File:Greek Red-figure Ceramic Calyx Crater Girl in dance class; Berlin Dancers painter, 440-430 BC (28454178810).jpg|440-430 BC, Greece. Greek Red-figure Ceramic Calyx Crater. Girl dancing to aulos. 
File:Relieve de Osuna (M.A.N. Madrid) 02.jpg|225-175 B.C., [[Osuna]], Greek settlement in Iberian peninsula.  Iberian high-relief showing an [[auletris]] (woman playing an aulos). It's part of the Sculptures of Osuna. 
File:Archäologisches Museum Thessaloniki (Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης) (47831745881).jpg|Aulos bodies made of bone. Archäologisches Museum Thessaloniki.
File:Aulos male southern theatre Jerash.jpg|A male figure playing aulos. Southern theatre at [[Jerash]].

File:Aulos female southern theatre Jerash.jpg|A woman playing aulos. Southern theatre at Jerash.
File:Nereus Playing Flutes, 1st-3rd Cent. AD.jpg|Helenistic depiction of Aulos, from [[Gandhara]], 1st-3rd centuries BCE.
File:Young Musician.jpg|Modern 19th Century depiction by [[Theodoros Rallis]]
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[The Reading Aulos]]
*[[Launeddas]]
*[[Zampogna]]
*[[Arghul]]
*[[Triple pipes]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Auloi}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050920113848/http://didaskalia.open.ac.uk/issues/vol2no2/Neuman.html "The Aulos and Drama: A Performer's Viewpoint," by Philip Neuman]
*[http://www.oeaw.ac.at/kal/agm/ "Ancient Greek Music – The Aulos, with sound examples"]
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Aulos}}
*{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00438243.1981.9979806|quote=The ''tibiae'' (is) an instrument of the Romans.|title=The Archaeology of Musical Instruments in Germany during the Roman Period|first=Maria E.|last=Ginsberg-Klar|journal=World Archaeology|volume=12|issue=3, Archaeology and Musical Instruments|date=February 1981|pages=313–320|jstor=124243}}
*İkibeş, Samet (2021). Antik Yunan Enstrümanı Aulos ve Aulos'un Askeri Acıdan İncelenmesi. ''Balkan Müzik ve Sanat Dergisi'' , 3 (1) , 73-88 . DOI: 10.47956/bmsd.878775 https://doi.org/10.47956/bmsd.878775 
* Katchmarschik Vladimir. Some Mysteries of  Ancient Greek Aulets. Journal  International Double Reed Society. 1994. Juli N 22. P. 93–99.

{{Double reed}}
{{Greek musical instruments}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient Greek musical instruments]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek theatre]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman musical instruments]]
[[Category:Cult of Dionysus]]
[[Category:Double-reed instruments]]