This paper intends to inform the reader of the origin, influence, and purpose of the Florentine Camerata, and will also discuss the different leading forces and influencers of the group such as Girolamo Mei and Vincenzo Galilei. This band of Italian philosophers from the Renaissance period was greatly influential in the invention and establishment of opera as a genre, and functioned similarly to the French salons of the Enlightenment. They spent much time discussing and arguing the best and most effective ways to create and perform music, and the group as a whole focused heavily on the music and art from ancient Greece. This paper also seeks to illuminate the aspects of ancient Greek influences that the group studied and admired
