They sang, and danced, and played upon the lyre, all day, and sometimes the god Apollo came to see them. […] The poets recited their verses; the musicians played on the lyre, and sang lyric songs; and the athletes ran, and wrestled; and the people listened and looked on.

Foreigners, or sojourners as they were called, who resided at Athens, held a rank inferior to natives of the city Musicians, some playing on the flute, and others upon the lyre, rhapsodists, who sang passages from Homer’s poems, and dancers of singular grace accompanied the procession, and passed through the streets, amidst a crowd of spectators. […] Patriots, who perished for their country’s right, Or nobly triumphed in the field of fight: There holy priests, and sacred poets stood, Who sang with all the raptures of a god: Worthies, who life by useful arts refined; With those, who leave a deathless name behind, Friends of the world, and fathers of mankind. […] The Scripture says, at creation, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”