(kondakion) (pl. kontakia) in its original form, a hymn that consisted of a long homiletic series of stanzas called oikoi, usually numbering 24 (the length of the Greek alphabet). Each stanza ended with the same refrain. The greater number of the most ancient k. are ascribed to St. Roman the Melodist. In modern usage, for each liturgical occasion only the first stanza and a single oikos remain, sung after the sixth ode of the kanon at Matins, and occasionally after the third as well; in this abridged form the k. is also sung at the Divine Liturgy after the appointed troparia.
The hymn appointed to be sung after the sixth ode of the canons (sometimes also after the third ode); it is generally followed immediately by its ikos. Both the kontakion and the ikos are derived from he early kontakion, which was a long poem, intended to be sung in church. It consisted of a short preliminary stanza, followed by some 18-24 strophes, each knownas an ikos; the preliminary stanza and every ikos
Second principal (short) hymn of the day.
a musical composition consisting of 18-24 stanzas all modelled on a leading stanza (heirmos, q.v.)
A didactic piece of poetic genre; collection of poetic strophes, each of an equal number of syllables and of the same rhythm.
a liturgical hymn. 'Kontos' = 'shaft', referring to the stick around which a vellum roll was wound.
a hymn used in the Divine services in honor of a particular saint or feast.
The word means pole, since the Kontakion was originally a long poetic composition rolled up on a pole. Now only the brief preliminary stanza remains and is sung before the Ikos after the Sixth Ode of the Canon, at the Liturgy, Hours, and various other services.
Kontakion (Greek: κοντάκιον) is a form of hymn performed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The word derives from the Greek word kontax (κόνταξ), meaning pole, describing the way in which the words were and are unfurled on a scroll that has been wound around a pole. The word was originally used to describe an early Byzantine poetic form, whose origins date back certainly as far as the 6th century AD, and possibly earlier.