Phrygian

Phrygian refers to Phrygia, an ancient region in central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), and to the people, language, and culture associated with that area. The term derives from Greek Phryges and is used to describe a broad range of related subjects, from archaeology and history to music and symbolism.

Historically, Phrygia rose as a distinct polity in the first millennium BCE, with a major kingdom centered in Gordium. Phrygian power peaked in the 8th–7th centuries BCE and interacted with neighboring Lydian, Greek, Persian, and later Hellenistic cultures. After successive conquests, Phrygia became part of larger empires and was eventually absorbed into the Roman world. The Phrygians are noted for their distinctive art, religious practices, and the blending of Anatolian, Greek, and Near Eastern influences.

The Phrygian language is an extinct member of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family, known from inscriptions dating from roughly the 8th to the 3rd centuries BCE. It used a script derived from the Greek alphabet and is studied in the context of ancient Anatolian linguistics and epigraphy. Phrygian cultural influence extended into religion, including associations with the cult of Cybele and Attis, which left a mark on broader Mediterranean religious traditions.

In music, Phrygian denotes one of the seven modes: the third mode of the major scale, characterized by a lowered second degree (scale degrees 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 1). It has appeared in medieval and Renaissance theory and remains a reference point in modal and contemporary music. The term also appears in iconography, notably the Phrygian cap, a soft conical hat that became a symbol of liberty and emancipation in Western art and political iconography.