Of the stringed instruments used among the Greeks, the lyre was the most prominent. There were two varieties of this, the kithara and the lyre proper. The kithara, an instrument with a large wooden sounding board and upright arms, was played chiefly by professional musicians, such as the kitharist represented on a fine vase in the Third Vase Room, who has won a victory at one of the great musical contests (E 460; Pedestal 7). The illustration (fig. 252), taken from an amphora of the fifth century (E 256, Case H, Third Vase Room), shows Apollo playing on the kithara, which is supported by a band passing round his left wrist, but leaving the fingers of the left hand free to play on the strings. In his right hand he holds the _plectrum_, which is attached by a cord to the instrument. The _plectrum_ was of various forms, but its most essential part was the tooth for catching and sounding the wires. The lyre proper (fig. 253) is distinguished by its curving arms and sounding board of tortoiseshell (hence called _chelys_). The wooden framework and parts of the shell of a Greek lyre found in a tomb near Athens are shown in Case 56 (No. =642=). As the popular instrument, the lyre was naturally taught in schools. Two interesting Greek vases (Nos. =643= and =644=), exhibited in these Cases, give pictures of boys receiving music lessons at a school. In one instance a boy is learning the lyre, in another the boy is playing the flutes, while the master, who holds a _plectrum_, is playing on a lyre. Domestic animals are freely admitted, and the discipline seems far from severe. [Illustration: FIG. 252. APOLLO PLAYING ON A KITHARA.] [Illustration: FIG. 253. LYRE.] As the school scene shows, flute-playing, though condemned by Plato and Aristotle,[96] was commonly taught at Athens. Ancient flutes are distinguished from the modern instruments by the vibrating reed which formed the mouthpiece, and by the fact that they were always played in pairs. Hence the frequency with which pairs of ancient flutes are found. Two of sycamore wood (No. =645=; Case 56) were discovered in the same tomb (near Athens) as the lyre described above (No. =642=). Another pair of flutes (in bronze) from Italy (No. =646=; fig. 254) have their mouthpieces in the form of busts of Maenads. A terracotta shows a pair of female musicians (No. =647=) playing with a drum and double flutes. To assist the playing of the two flutes together a mouth-band was often worn, as may be seen from designs on vases, _e.g._, on a cup of Epiktetos (E 38; Third Vase Room), and on some of the Cypriote sculptures in the Gold Ornament Room passage. A framed impression from a Greek hymn to Apollo inscribed on stone is here exhibited (No. =648=). Musical notes, indicated by letters of the Greek alphabet in various positions, are placed at intervals over the letters to guide the singer. The inscription was found at Delphi, where other inscriptions of a similar character have come to light.