lyra (λύρα) : LEE-rah

(Greek: stringed instrument similar to a small harp with a sounding board made from a tortoise shell). Ancient Greece, recitations of lyric poetry and dramatic performances were accompanied by lyre playing; played by being strummed with a plectrum (pick) rather than being plucked like a harp; earlies image from1400 BCE on the sarcophagus of Hagia Triada, Minoan settlement in Crete).