- Phorminx is also a genus of cylindrical bark beetles.
The
phorminx (in
Ancient Greek φόρμιγξ) was one of the oldest of the Ancient Greek stringed
musical instruments, intermediate between the
lyre and the
kithara. It consisted of two to seven strings, richly decorated arms and a crescent-shaped sound box. It mostly probably originated from
Mesopotamia. While it seems to have been common in
Homer's day, accompanying the
rhapsodes, it was supplanted in historical times by the seven-stringed
kithara. Nevertheless, the term
phorminx continued to be used as an
archaism in poetry.
