Musica, feste e agoni in Magna Grecia

In the cities of Magna Graecia, such as Reggio, Locri, Sibari, Taranto, a solid musical tradition developed since the Archaic period, in the context of festivals and ritual celebrations. These events were probably the springboard for local artists towards the most illustrious Greek competitions, within official circuits of cultural mobility during festive celebrations. The excesses of the colonies in festivals and competitions, which caused musical degeneration, were interpreted by later sources as a sign of debauchery in comparison with the sobriety of the motherland, and held to be a sign of the decline of civilisation and political decadence.