Kithara

Kithara (Gk.), national instr. of ancient Greece, a box lyre, with square, flat wooden box resonator, 2 thick, hollow arms connected at the top by a crossbar, and a variable number of gut strings of equal length, originally 3, increased to 11 by the 5th c. B.C., and played with a plectrum. A heavy, rather cumbersome instr., it was held upright when played, in contrast to the tilted lyra, its weight partly supported by being rested against the player's body. Many of the kitharas depicted are…