In exploring the idea of lyric performances as 'textual events', this volume marks a departure from interpretations of Greek lyric as socio-political discourse. Building on the renewed concern with the aesthetic, it studies poetic effects that cannot be captured in terms of function alone and re-examines the relationship between form and context.

What difference does music make to performance poetry, and how did the ancients understand this relationship? This volume explores the interaction of music and language in ancient Greek poetry, arguing that music crucially informs the ways in which these texts create meaning and exploring its place in contemporary critical writings.