The Pleiads, or the first cosmic lyre

ancient Greek lyre. The heavenly bodies linked with cosmic music were, Some ancient Greek sources dealing with the doctrine of cosmic harmony establish correspondences between heavenly bodies and the strings of the depending on the authors, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the five planets known in Antiquity, and the sphere of the fixed stars.' But, prior to these, it is highly probable that the first heavenly body to be linked with music by the Pythagoreans of the Classical period was the Pleiads, a group of seven stars mentioned in the Homeric poems and belonging to the constellation of Taurus.” * In this paper we offer a part of the results ofa research developed at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana, USA) during the years 2003-2008, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports (ref: 1D-2002-0002). Thanks to Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Mathiesen, from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA, and to Prof. Dr. Francoise Bader, from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, “Alexander the Actolian”, whereas Heraclitus says “Alexander of Ephesus”. It Paris, France, for their support and helpful suggestions and remarks. ' The most detailed accounts of the link between planctary spheres and the strings of the lyre arc given by Alexander of Ephesus (fr. 21 Supp/Hell, quoted by Heraclit. Al/. 12, and by Theo Sm. p. 138 ff. Hiller) and by Nicomachus of Gerasa (Harm. 3, pp. 241-242 Jan). Concerning the first one, Theo of Smyrna says seems that Heraclitus was right, and Theo of Smyma was wrong, se we might be dealing with Alexander of Ephesus; cf. K. von Jan, “Die Harmonie der Sphären”, Philologus 52 (1894) 23 n, 43, with further references. There are other less explicit allusions to a connection between those heavenly bodies and the strings of an heptachord lyre: Varro of Atax, fr. 14 Morel (= 12 Traglia = 1} Büchner, quoted by Marius Victorinus, in Grammatici Latini, 6, 60 Keil = Orph. fragm. 419 Bernabé); Philo of Alexandria, De opificio mundi, 126; Nicom. Theol. Arith., p. 71, 14-18 De Falco; Ps. Luc. Astr. 10 (Orph. fragm. 418 Bernabé); Serv. Aen. 6, 645; Serv. Buc. 8, 75; Macr, Sat. 1, 19, 15, and scholion to Verg. den. 6, 119 in the Codex Parisinus Latinus 7930 (Orph. fragm. 417 Bernabé). > Cf. IL 18, 486 (TA nitdas @ ‘Yédac te zó te 68évos ‘Apiwvog), and Od. 5, 272 (MAnidbag 7 Ecophvri cai dw Bbovra Bowrnv). The first author Ps.-Longin. De sublimitate 15, 4: tet & &p’ Ent& nrerdbwv Exwv pénov). saying that they are seven is Euripides (Phaethon v. 171 Diggle, quoted by EM p. 675.11. 35-54. For their myth, cf. Arat. 254-267; Ps. Eratosth. Cat. 1, 23; sch. in Il. 18, 486; D.S. 3, 60, 4-5 (= Dionys. Scyt. FGrH 32 F 7 = fr. 7 Rusten, esp. ll. 18-36); D.H. Antiquitates romanae 1, 61, 1, 11. 5-9; Gern. Arat. 255-269, sch. in Germ. Arat. v. 254; Hyg. Fab. 192; Hyg. Asir. 2, 21, 2-4; Hesych. s. v. ( 2550), and The Pleiads, or the First Cosmic Lyre 29 This connection of the Pleiads with music was attributed to the Pythagoreans by Porphyrius, who cited Aristotle as his source (and who mentioned, although with no further explicit mention ofits Pythagorean was probably telling the truth at that point). And it continued to be origin, until the end of the literary history of Antiquity. We shall begin with a passage of Porphyrius’s Life of Pythagoras, where, citing Aristotle as his source, he wrote that the Pleiads were said by Pythagoras to be the lyre of the Muses. It seems that the planets had phone” by Pythagoras: not yet been related to music in those early days: in the very same breath, Porphyrius also says that the planets were called “the dogs of Perse- Abpav, tobc B nAávnrag KÓvac tc Mepsegévys.? Eheye DÉ Tuva koi pvSTLKG tpore ovpPoALKGs, à bh Eni nikov “ApiotoréAng véypowev. otov Ön Thv BékAartav pèv Exdder Kpovov daKxpvov, Tc SE &pKTOUS ‘Péag yeipas, thy SE. nAeıada Movoüv He (se. Pythagoras) said certain things as in the mysteries, in a figurative way. Aristotle, in fact, recorded most cf them, as when he called the sea “a tear of Kronos’: the Bears ‘the hands of Rhea’; the Pleiads ‘the lyre of the Muses”. and the planets ‘the dogs of Persephone’. This could actually be an ancient tradition, because, according to the cosmology attributed to the Pythagoreans by Aristotle, there were ten heavenly bodies;* later, Aetius ascribed such a system to Philolaos and Hicetas.* Therefore, the common association of the seven-stringed 3 Cf Porph. PP 4! (= Arist. fr. 196 Rose = 159 Gigon = Pythagoristae 58 C 2 DK). * Namely: Sun, Moon, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the fixed stars, and the so called Counter-Earth, an invention to make the number of heavenly bodies equal to ten, the most perfect number for the Pythagoreans: cf. Arist. Cael. 293 a 20-27 (= Pythagoristae $8 B 37 DK: évavriwc oi nepi Tv ‘Tradiay, kahobpevor 58 vGayoperot A€yousiw ri EV yap tod LÉO xdp eival gaar, miv SE viv, Ev cÔv dotpev otcay, KÜKAG PEPOLÉVNV zepi TÔ HÉGOY vrza te Kai fpépav roreiv. En 8’ evaveiav GAANY tobty kataTKEDELOVOL THY, Fv avtiz8ove Öövopo KaAoDGLY. od zpòs TH ParLvöleva tobg AGYOVG Kol Tag aiting Cntodvtes, GARG nps Tvas Aöyovg Kai 66€ag abtdv Th pawvópevot RPOGÉLKOVTES Kai neipdpevor suyKocpety); Arist. Metaph. 986 a 8-12 (= Prthagorisiae 58 B 4 DK: hAéyu 8 olov, rein téherov À deräg civar doxet Kai n&oav nepterdngéevar thy TOV Apıduov pou, Kal te pepdpeva Kata tov obpavòv déxa pêv sivai paoiv, övrov 68 dvvéa pdvov Tv pavepov Ste ToT Sex&eny thy avtizGova rotoboLV). $ Cf. Actius Placit. 2, 7, 7, pp. 336-337 Diels (ap. Stob. 1, 22, 1 d = Philol. 44 A 16 DK = A 16 b Huffman: @iAdAMog nôp Ev péow nepì td. Kévtpov, bep

Some ancient Greek sources dealing with the doctrine of cosmic harmony establish correspondences between heavenly bodies and the strings of the ancient Greek lyre. The heavenly bodies linked with cosmic music were, depending on the authors, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the five planets known in Antiquity, and the sphere of the fixed stars.! But, prior to these, it is highly 29 This connection of the Pleiads with music was attributed to the Pythagoreans by Porphyrius, who cited Aristotle as his source (and who was probably telling the truth at that point). And it continued to be mentioned, although with no further explicit mention of its Pythagorean origin, until the end of the literary history of Antiquity. We shall begin with a passage of Porphyrius’s Life of Pythagoras, where, citing Aristotle as his source, he wrote that the Pleiads were said by Pythagoras to be the lyre of the Muses. It seems that the planets had not yet been related to music in those early days: in the very same breath, Porphyrius also says that the planets were called “the dogs of Persephone” by Pythagoras: probable that the first heavenly body to be linked with music by the Pythagoreans of the Classical period was the Pleiads, a group of seven stars Éheye dé TLVA Koi uvotikò TpóTO GvuBoAkÔG, à SN Eri TAEOV mentioned in the Homeric poems and belonging to the constellation of Taurus.” SaKpvoV, Tac de Üpkrovg Péac xEtpac, thv öE.nAeıdda Movodv “Aptototédns Aveypayev. otov Sti thy AGAattav ev éxóder Kpóvov Abpav, todg E TAGVHTAG Kbvag Tg Tlepoepövng.? “ In this paper we offer a part of the results ofa research developed at Indiana He (sc. Pythagoras) said certain things as in the mysteries, in a figurative University (Bloomington, Indiana, USA) during the years 2003-2005, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports (ref.: ID-2002-0002). way. Aristotle, in fact, recorded most of them, as when he called the sea ‘a tear of Kronos’; the Bears ‘the hands of Rhea’; the Pleiads ‘the Thanks to Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Mathiesen, from Indiana University, Bloomington, lyre of the Muses’, and the planets ‘the dogs of Persephone’. USA, and to Prof. Dr. Françoise Bader, from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, France, for their support and helpful suggestions and remarks. ! The most detailed accounts of the link between planetary spheres and the strings of the lyre are given by Alexander of Ephesus (fr. 21 Supp/Hell, quoted by Heraclit. All. 12, and by Theo Sm. p. 138 ff. Hiller) and by Nicomachus of Gerasa (Harm. 3, pp. 241-242 Jan). Concerning the first one, Theo of Smyrna says This could actually be an ancient tradition, because, according to the cosmology attributed to the Pythagoreans by Aristotle, there were ten heavenly bodies;* later, Aetius ascribed such a system to Philolaos and Hicetas.* Therefore, the common association of the seven-stringed “Alexander the Aetolian”, whereas Heraclitus says “Alexander of Ephesus”. It seems that Heraclitus was right, and Theo of Smyrna was wrong, so we might be dealing with Alexander of Ephesus; cf. K. von Jan, “Die Harmonie der Sphären”, Philologus 52 (1894) 23 n. 43, with further references. There are other less explicit 3 Cf. Porph. VP 41 (= Arist. fr. 196 Rose = 159 Gigon = Pythagoristae 58 C 2 DK). allusions to a connection between those heavenly bodies and the strings of an = Namely: Sun, Moon, Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the heptachord lyre: Varro of Atax, fr. 14 Morel (= 12 Traglia = 11 Biichner, quoted by fixed stars, and the so called Counter-Earth, an invention to make the number of Marius Victorinus, in Grammatici Latini, 6, 60 Keil = Orph. fragm. 419. Bernabé); heavenly bodies equal to ten, the most perfect number for the Pythagoreans: cf. Arist. Cael. 293 a 20-27 (= Pythagoristae 58 B 37 DK: EVAVTLMG OÙ MEPL TMV TroAiav, xaAdodpevor dè MvOaydperor AÉYoverv: Eni pèv Yüp tod LÉGOV TP eivai paci, ınv dé yfiv, EV TOv KotpwV odoav, KOKAM PEpon&vnv TEpi TO Philo of Alexandria, De opificio mundi, 126; Nicom. Theol. Arith., p. 71, 14-18 De Falco; Ps. Luc. Astr. 10 (Orph. fragm. 418 Bernabé); Serv. Aen. 6, 645; Serv. Buc. 8, 75; Macr. Sat. 1, 19, 15, and scholion to Verg. Aen. 6, 119 in the Codex Parisinus Latinus 7930 (Orph. fragm. 417 Bernabé). 2 Cf. 11. 18, 486 (TAniédac 9° ‘Yadag te t6 te OBÉVOS ’Dpiwvog), and Od. 5, 272 (IAniadag 7’ Écop@vti Kai owe Sdovta Bo@tnv). The first author saying that they are seven is Euripides (Phaethon v. 171 Diggle, quoted by Ps.-Longin. De sublimitate 15, 4: te. 8 &p’ éntà nAeıddwv Éxwv SpdpoVv). For their myth, cf. Arat. 254-267; Ps. Eratosth. Car. 1, 23; sch. in Il. 18, 486; D.S. 3, 60, 4-5 (= Dionys. Scyt. FGrH 32 F 7 = fr. 7 Rusten, esp. Il. 18-36); D.H. Antiquitates romanae 1, 61, 1, 11. 5-9; Germ. Arat. 255-269; sch. in Germ. Arat. v. 254; Hyg. Fab. 192; Hyg. Astr. 2, 21, 2-4; Hesych. s. v. (x 2550), and EM p. 675, 11. 35-54. Hécov VÜKTO TE Kal Muépav moreîv. gti 8 Evavriav GAAHV TAOTY KATASKEVECOVSL YÎiv, Tv Avtixdova Övona kaXodorv, od mpd tà POALVÓNEVO Todg Aöyovg Kai tag arias Cntodvtec, A Ad rpéc tivas Adyovg Kai S6EaG AdTAV TÀ. POLVOLEVA TPOGEAKOVTES KO TELpmpEvoL ovyKoopetv); Arist. Metaph. 986 a 8-12 (= Pythagoristae 58 B 4 DK: Ayo 8 oiov, éne1ô téAELOV À deräg Etvar Sokel Kai TÔGOV nepietAnpévar tiv tov àpiouòv Pboıv, Kai tà PEPdpEVa Kata TOV odpavòv déxa Lev elvaí paciv, Svtwv Se ¿vvéa HOvov TÓV pavepôv 51 TODTO SEKÉTNV tiv Avrixbova KoLodoLV). ° Cf. Aetius Placit. 2, 7, 7, pp. 336-337 Diels (ap. Stob. 1, 22, 1 d = Philol. 44 A 16 DK = A 16 b Huffman: Bidódaoc rip év LÉO nepi tò Kévtpov, Önep

lyre with the Sun, Moon, and the five planets observed in Antiquity was not possible among the earlier Pythagoreans. On the other side, in a passage of his Metaphysics, Aristotle criticizes the Pythagorean notion that number reflects the essence of things. in this case by mentioning random examples. From all this, we can conclude that Porphyrius was actually transmitting an ancient tradition, and In this discussion, he lists groups ef seven elements, and asks whether those things come into being because they are seven. Among the heptads he mentions we find the seven strings of a &ppovia, the vowels of ancient Greek language, and the Pleiads (instead of the Sun, the Moon, and the other five planets).f Since the same Aristotle, as we said above, described a Pythagorean cosmic system of ten heavenly bodies, it is likely that the Stagirite drew those examples from the Pythagoreans whose doctrines he was discussing. And, even if he did not explicitly attribute to the Pythagoreans any association among those groups of seven, his mention of the seven strings and the seven Pleiads may hint at the Pythagorean symbolon “The Pleiads are the lyre of the Muses”, quoted by Porphyrius, who in this case is reliable: when he mentioned Aristotle as his source, he was not simply trying to make respectable a late speculation. Given that Aristotle was not a sympathizer with Pythagoreanism, Porphyrius (who was such a sympathizer) would not cite him as a source if he were only trying to discredit the Pythagoreans Eotiav Tod novròc KaAET koi A1dG OiKOV Kai untepa Bev, Bopóv Te Kal GoVOYTV Kai LÉTPOV poems. Kai TAALV TOP Erepov A&VMTATH TO TEPLEXOV. Tp@tov 8’ eivar poet tO péoov, nepì SE toto SEKa GOpATA Beta XOPEVELV, ovpavov+ te nAavnTag, HEB ods HALov, dE oeAnvny, bo’ À mv yv, dp À tv Avrixdova, LEO’ à GDUTAVTA TO TOP Eoriag nepi TH KEVTPA THELV ENEXOV), and Aetius Placit. 3, 11, 3, p. 377 Diels, ap. Ps.-Gal. Phil. Hist. 83, Eus. PE 15, 57, 1-4 (= Philol. 44 A 17 DK = A 17 Huffman: ®iAdAaog 6 IIvBayóperog tO HÈV TOP méoov (todto yup eivaı tod navrög Eotiav), Sevtépav dE mmv AvtixBova, tTpitnv dé tiv oixovpéevny yf && &vavriag KEULÉVNV TE KO NEPIPEPONEVNV TA] a&vtix8ov1; cf. Ps.-Plut. Plac. Phil. 895 e 4-7, with no difference but tpitnv 8° Tv oikodpev yfiv, instead of tpitnv È tiv oikovuévnv yfiv); Aetius Placit. p. 376 Diels (= Hicetas, fifth cent. BC, 50 A 2 DK: @aAfig kai oi din’ HdTOD niav etvau nv ynv, Icerng 6 Ilvdayöperog 500, Tadtnv Kai Tv avttx8ova, and cf. Ps.-Plut. Plac. Phil. 895 c 8: ‘Ix&ıng 6 IIvBayóperog 800, tadtyv Kai THY àvTixBova). The incompatibility of this cosmology with any planetary scale has been pointed ‚out by W. Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism (Cambridge, Mass. 1972) 351-352. It is rather curious that no source is known linking the alleged ten heavenly bodies with the ten elements of the tetraktys. 6 Vid. Arist. Metaph. 1093 a 13-14 (= Pythagoristae 58 B 27 DK): ént& pév -gavievta, éxtax dè xopôai h óppovia, Ente dE ai nAerbdec, Ev Ent dè Ödóvrac PaAAEr (Evid ye, Evia 8° od), Enta& Se où Exi OfBas. Gp’ odv Str root dprBpòg nEpvxev, Brà TODTO À Eketvor EYEVOVTO Ent À À nerds ENTAX KOTEPOV EOTIV; 31 that the aphorism “The Pleiads are the lyre of the Muses” could actually go back to the time of the author of the Metaphysics.’ Additional sources establish a link between the Pleiads and the seven-stringed lyre,* representing a continuation of the old Pythagorean tradition by the Alexandrine scholars and Latin poets (who do not mention the Pythagorean character of the association). These include an anonymous commentator on Aratus, who wrote: “It (i. e. the lyre) was first made by Hermes from the tortoise-shell, and it had seven strings because of the Atlantids”.? These Atlantids are the same as the Pleiads, 7 On the antiquity of the Pythagorean aphorisms, C. Hélk, De acusmatis sive symbolis Pythagoricis (Kiel 1894) 31-33, whose strongest argument is the parallel between the commandment transmitted, alongside with other Pythagorean aKkovopata, by lambl. VP 18, 84 (yvvaîka od Set Örbkerv mv adt0d, ikétig yap: 510 Kai AM Eotiag Ayöneda, Kai n Añwyis Ü1ù SeEvGc), and Arist. Oeconomica 1344 a 8-13 (IIp@tov pèv odv [vóport npög yovatKa] [Kai] Tù un adiketv’ odtaSG Yap Av odd’ AdTOG AKödıkotto. TODO deEnyeitar dè [6] Kai 6 KOLVOG vôpLoc kadınep ot Ilvdayöpeioı Aéyovoiv, HonEp ikétiv Kai àp EOTLAG NYHEVHV OS Kuota Setv [ôoketv] &Siketv: Arta SE Avöpög ai Oópale ovvovotar yıyvönevaı). Cf. also A. Delatte, Etudes sur la littérature pythagoricienne (Paris 1915) 259, 307, and 308 (arguing from the dialogic form, typical of early wisdom literature; cf. Burkert (n. 5) 188, and Chr. Riedweg, Pythagoras (Miinchen 2002) 103, who recall the case of the Seven Sages (cf. Plut. Sept. Sap. Conv. 153 c); Burkert (n. 5) 166-192: for instance, Anaximander of Miletus the Younger, to judge from Xen. Symp. 3, 6, worked about allegories and the Suda, s. v. (= a, 1987 = FGrH 9 T 1 = 58 C 6 DK), attributes him an interpretation of the Pythagorean symbols, so they may go back to pre-classical or archaic times); M. L. West, “Alcman and Pythagoras”, CO 17 (1967) 11-14, esp. 12; M. L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 1992) 224, and Riedweg (supra in this same note) 61, 91, and 94. $ On the following see F. Molina Moreno, Orfeo y la mitologia de la musica (Madrid 2003) 431 ff. RU sd wi Scholia in Aratum v. 269 (sch. MDAKVUAS: abrn 88 kareokeváoen Ev do Eppov mp@tov Ex this xeA@vns Éntéyxopôoc, And tod àpi0uoù tHv Athavttdov); cf. Ps.-Eratosth. Cat. 24 (Hepi tg Abpac. Abt &várn keîtar Kai Eon Movoôv: KOTEGKEVÓOON dE TO LEV TPB®tov dTd ‘Eppod Er tig xe AO VNG Kal Tv AnöAAwvog Body, Eoxe 58 Kopdàc Ext& À and TOV GC nhavnrôv À àrd TOV “Athavttdmv); Hyg. Astr. 2, 7, 2: Alii autem dicunt Mercurium, cum primum lyram fecisset in Cyllene monte Arcadiae, septem chordas instituisse ex Atlantidum numero, quod Maia una ex illarum numero esset, quae Mercurii est mater. It is interesting that the seven planets are alluded to by Ps.-Eratosthenes, according to an analogy far more common among the ancient writers than the one with the Pleiads (cf. the sources quoted in n. 1); but the mention of the planets may be an interpolation (cf. W. Hübner, “Die Lyra cosmica des Eratosthenes: das neunte

who were called “offspring of Atlas” by Hesiod and many others.!° This but, as we have seen, it is likely that the Pleiads made the first model according to the Pythagoreans. Among the beings related to the lyre, 33 link between the Pleiads and the strings of the lyre survives in Ovid’s Fasti (“you are thought to have given seven strings, the Pleiads’ number, to the Iyre”!!), and in the Aratea by the fourth century C. E. Latin poet Avienus: When the beautiful Apollo filled it in his turn with celestial harmony, he taught Orpheus to handle it inside the Pangaean grotto. This one played wise tunes on nine strings according to the number of the Muses, being himself the son of a Muse; he who discovered it brought forth his songs from the number of the Pleiads.!? That is, the Pleiads would have provided the heavenly pattern for human lyres. In the context of Avienus’ passage, the discoverer of the lyre was Hermes, as in the charming Homeric Hymn to Hermes, and the reference to the Pleiads reminds us that Hermes was the son of Maia, one of the Pleiads.!? So, in fashioning the lyre, Hermes decided on seven strings as a reflection of the Pleiads, just as Orpheus would do when he increased the number of strings to reflect the Muses. Thus, it seems as if both Muses and Pleiads provided a divine model for the lyre, 33 only the Pleiads belonged primarily to the heavenly world, whereas the Muses originally had no astral connections, nor did represent a set of seven elements. Beyond their relationship to the lyre, the Pleiads were also occasionally related to music throughout antiquity. Sometimes the interpretation might be open, for example, when some authors view the Pleiads as forming a choir.!* The first source mentioning the Pleiads as a choir might be Euripides’ Phaethon, if we accept Diggle’s proposal for filling a lacuna on the papyrus where the corresponding fragment has been preserved.!5 With Diggle’s supplement, Euripides’ lines read: “Above my head the choir of the Pleiads has fleed”. It is not impossible that Euripides actually wrote that line, since the image of a choir of stars was already known in Greek poetry, and the same Euripides could have it in mind in another passage where he mentions the Pleiads and Hyads.!® If so, Euripides would be the first author linking the Pleiads 14 Philo of Alexandria, De opificio mundi 115 (6 t@v nAetédœov Xopöc); Hyg. Fab. 192 (Pleiades ... ex quibus Electren negant apparere propter Dardanum amissum Troiamque sibi ereptam; alii existimant Merope<n> conspicere erubes- Sternbild der Musen mit neun Sternen und neun Saiten”, Mus. Helv. 55 [1998]: 2, cere quia mortalem virum acceperit, cum ceterae deos haberent; ob eamque rem 106 n. 113). de choro sororum expulsa maerens crinem solutum gerit, quae cometes appel- 10 Hes. Op. 383 (HAniddov ‘AtAayevéwv éniteAAopeviiwv), and Hes. fr. 169 Merkelbach, quoted in a scholion to Pind. N. II, 17 c (Tnöyern 1° épózcoa Kai "HAéktpn kvavóris/ 'Adkvóvn te Kai Aoteporn din te Kerarva/ Matà te Kai Mepönn, tac yeivaro paídiuos “AtAac); cf., by the way, the Ps.-Eratosth. Cat. 23 (tpeig pèv odv pryfivar Ari, HAéktpav ¿8 fig Apôavoc, Matav ¿E fis ‘Eppfis...). 1 Fasti 5, 105-106: septena putaris, | Pleiadum numerum, fila dedisse lyrae. The subject of this sentence is Hermes. This idea survived among Renaissance music theorists: for example, the Ovidian verses are quoted by Johannes Tinctoris, De inventione et usu musicae, p. 41 Weinmann (http://www.music.indiana. latur); Hor. C. 4, 14, 21 (exercet Auster Pleiadum choro); Prop. 3, 5, 36 (Pleiadum spisso cur coit igne chorus); Q.S. 13, 551-554 (fig elvexó aot Kai adtiy / “HAéktpnv Pabdrenrov Edv SEpag KpElKardyar/ KYAT Kai vegéecorv àvnvauévnv XOPOV GAAOV / Miniádov at Sn ot KSEAGELAL Yeycaotv). !5 That is, the papyrus where the main extant parts of Euripides’s Phaethon have been preserved (Pap. Berol. 9771), cf. J. Diggle (ed.), Euripides. Phaethon (Cambridge, 1970) 33-34, and F. Jouan and H. Van Looy, Euripide. Tragédies. VIII, 3. Fragments. Sthénébée - Chrysippos (Paris 2002) 244. Only the initial letters of the first word of v. 66 (reta) can be read on that papyrus. One of the editors of Euripides’s Phaethon, James Diggle, has proposed to fill the lacuna in 12 Avienus, Aratea, 621 ff.: hanc ubi rursum / concentus superi complevit this way: ITAevd[d@v négevye xopögl. Cf. Diggle (supra on this same note) 99, who provides many parallel passages for supporting his supplement: the passages pulcher Apollo / Orphea Pangaeo docuit gestare sub antro. / hic iam fila novem docta in modulamina movit | Musarum ad speciem Musa satus, ille repertor / where the image of a choir of stars appears are quoted in our n. 16; for passages where the verb pedyo is referred to the Pleiads or to other stars, cf. Hes. Op. 619- edu/tml/15th/TININY TEXT.html, consulted on July 6, 2004). carmina Pleiadum numero deduxerat. 13 Cf. Hes. fr. 169 Merkelbach, quoted above, n. 10; Hellanicus, FGrH 4 F 19 a, ap. sch. in Hom. Il. 18, 486 (pnoi dè Kai EAAGvVIKOG Ev TO TPOTO TOV -ATAAVTILKOV TUG HEV q” Beoig ovveAdelv Tavyétnv Alt, @v yevécbar Aaxedaipova: Matav Ati, dp” Ov ‘Epufig...); Arat. 261-263; Ps.-Eratosth. Car. 23; Call. fr. 693 Pfeiffer, ap. sch. in Ther., 13, 25; D. S. 3, 60, 4 (= Dionys. Scyt. FGrH 32 F 7 = fr. 7 Rusten, Il. 18-21); Germ. Arat. 262-263; Hyg. Fab. 192; sch. vet. in Hes. Th. 383 (= sch. Procli in Hes. Th. 381). hat as? Ion 84; Ovid. Met. 2, 114; 10, 448-9; Am. 1, 13, 28; ete, Cf.S. Ant. 1146-7 (id nöp nvedvtov / Xopay’ &otpwv); Critias, fr. B 19 DK (= fr. 4 Snell-Kannicht, ap. Clem. Al. Strom. V, 14, 114, 2, who attributes the fragment to Euripides; cf. the notes of B. Snell and R. Kannicht, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta [Göttingen 1986] 170-173): cè tov adtopuñ, tòv év aidepio i pouBo TÓVTOV Pboıv ÉpnAËEave, / Sv népi pév EC, répr È öppvaia / vdE aiorAdxpms Úxprióc T Kotpwv / SxAog EvdehexGs &pPrxopever); Eur. Jon 1078-80 (Óte Kai Auög KotEpwnds/ avexopevoev aiOnp, / yopever Se

with a musical reality, perhaps even before the Pythagorean association with the seven-stringed lyre. One may, however, argue that the musical connotations of the word xopög were not at work in the texts mentioning the choir of the Pleiads. Euripides’ lines in Phaethon, mentioned above, contain no further reference to a musical activity of those stars, and the same thing can be told about the other passages: for example, Philo says “the choir of the Pleiads is made up of a hebdomad, and their risings and settings become causes of great goods for all”,!7 in a passage where he is not dealing with music, but mentioning other groups of seven, like the Little Bear, which consists also of seven stars.!ë When Hyginus tells the myth of the Pleiads, he says that one of them was ashamed to have a mortal 35 important human activities,” and the ancients were prone to express that notion of order in terms of musical harmony and rhythm. In any case, these characteristics (forming a choir or leading the dance of the stars) are very seldom applied to other constellations: only two stars of the Little Bear are called choreutae (“members of a choir”) by Hyginus, and only Aries is said to lead the zodiac’s dance in a poem attributed to Empedocles.”* The Pleiads could be more often and consistently connected with the idea of choral dance because of their other associations with music. Other sources are more explicit about the musical connections of the Pleiads. In the twilight of Antiquity, Nonnus of Panopolis explicitly attributes to the Pleiads sound phenomena in two passages where the husband, whereas her sisters married gods, and because of this she was Pythagorean passion for numerical coincidences can also be detected: evicted from the “choir of her sisters”, where chorus stays metaphorically for “group”.!? In those passages, gopóc can mean simply “troop” or “ordered group”, a signification it shows when referred to things like fishes, specifically told to be “voiceless” by Sophocles in a fragment throats, whose number matches that of the heavens””* The second where he says: “the choir of voiceless fishes shouted in answer”. Nevertheless, the reference to a musical activity is clearer when Hyginus said that the Pleiads lead the dance (chorea) ofthe stars.?! This may well be coherent with the regulating role of the Pleiads: as we have already mentioned, their rising and setting indicated the proper time for Gekúva), and Eur. El. 467-8 (Gotpov T° aidépror yopot, / Wrevadeg “Yadec). Cf. Philol. A 16 b Huffman (above n. 5); Mesom. Sol. 17 (oi pév xopòg eúdtog àotépov / Kat "OAvunov &vaKta gopeber); Varro, fr. 269 Buecheler, ap. Nonnius, 451 M. (repénte noctis circiter meridie, / cum pictus aer fervidis late ignibus / caeli chorean astricen ostenderet); Tibul. 2, 1, 88 (matris lascivo sidera fulva choro); Manil. 2, 118 (signorumque choros ac mundi flammea tecta); Statius Achilleis 2, 643-4 (vidit chorus omnis ab alto / astrorum...), etc. However, “choir” is not the only word for alluding to a group of stars: Seneca Med. 96, says Pleiadum greges, “the herds of the Pleiads”. 17 Cf. Philo of Alexandria, De opificio mundi, 115: 6 tOv nAeıddwv Xopög àotépov éBöopádt OVETETANPOTAL, OV ai &TITOAGL Kai ATOKPOWYELS EVA DV àyab@v airıaı Yivovtar râ OL. 18 Cf. Philo of Alexandria, De opificio mundi, 114. ' Cf. Hyg. Fab. 192, quoted above (n. 14). 20 S. Fr. 762 Radt, quoted by Athenaeus (second-third centuries C. E.), 7, 5 (fish: xopög à Avadömv ixObmv Éreppo8er); Ael. NA 5, 13 (bees: nepi tod @v HEALTTO®V Xopod); Eur. HF 925 (children: yopdc 8È KaAAinopYog ElOTKEL tékvov); Xen. Oec. 8, 20 (“row of dishes:” xopög yup okevÒv); Coluthus (an epic poet of the fifth-sixth centuries C. E.), v. 125, uses that word for the row of reeds forming a syrinx (Kai yopov edKerdSov dovaKav Ent onyov Epetoas). In Ar. Ra. 548, it means “row of teeth” (tod yopod todg npooBiovg); cf. Gal. De usu partium 3, 871 K. (öóvrov yopov obto KAAS SieKdopnoEeV N PO). 21 Hyg. Astr. 2, 21, 3 (Pliades existimentur choream ducere stellis). “And the pole crashed, and, responding by itself to the seven-zoned heaven, the seven-mouthed echo of the Pleiads’ shout cried from their passage reads: “The winding seven-star echo of the band of the Pleiads made the seven-zoned heaven roar with recurrent voice, and the stars, running contrariwise and quivering their sound from their throats, whose number matches that of the heavens, wandered like Bacchants”.*> 22 On the relationship between the Pleiads, the calendar, and the seasons, cf. R. Böker, “Die Kalendarik der Pleiaden-Phasen”, RE 42 (1952) 2502-2505, and “Pleiaden im Kalender”, ibid., 2505-2514. Among many other sources, vid. Arat. 264-267; scholion to Arat. (MDAVUA) 259; Georgios Choeroboscos (a grammarian of the sixth century C. E.), De orthographia (epitome), p. 252, ll. 18-20 Cramer; Saint Isidorus of Sevilla, Etym. 3, 71, 13. — The relevance of the Pleiads for regulating human activities is attested by Hesiod, who says that the rising of the Pleiads indicates the time for harvest; their setting, the time for ploughing (Hes. Op. 383-384). On the other side, the setting of the Pleiads indicates the time in which navigation should be avoided, according to Hes. Op. 618-623; cf. Aratus 264-267. 23 Other constellations related to choral activities: (a) Two stars of the Little Bear are called “choreutae”, according to Hyg. Astr. 3, 1, 2 (reliqui autem duo Choreutae dicuntur, quod circum polum versantur); cf. loannes Camaterus, Introductio in astronomiam, lines 617 ff. (h 8 "Apkrtog N mikpobt{ucog àotépas Eyer tobode: / Entà TÒv Apıöuöv eicı, tpetg éExi tod nAvOiov: / 6 pd nod@v adròc GOTH, Kokeîtar dè Kai IIöAog, / où & &AXot 800 Xopevtat); (b) Great and Little Bears, in Nonn. D. 38, 407 (GAAnAwv éxépevov En’ 1801 KUKAGSES ”Apktot); (c) Aries, ap. Ps. ah ie 1, v. 83 (IIp@tog gopetag Kpıög hyettaı «KOKAOD). : Nonn. D. 1, 240-242 (koi nöAog Eonapäynoev GpeBouévy òë Kai ade/ obpavov ENTAC@VOV ioNPOLOV And AaWLOV/ IAméSv aAaAaACE Boñs ExTAKOTOLOG nix). Cf. also Nonn. D. 13, 412-414 (HA&xtpng àvétel ke dr aiBépos EBöonog Korhp/ or dontvng onumtov, pi SE virn/ HAmédov KEAGSnOE Bong &vriOpooc NYO). 2 Vid. Nonn. D. 38, 380-383 (ITAnıddog Bà pékayyos EME Emtäotepog hxò/ ovpavov Entdbwvov énéBpepe KvKAGS1 Pov/ Kai KTOROV aiBbooovres ionpiôpov and Aap@v/ âotépes ÓvriBéovreg ÉBarxebOnoav GAFTAL).

We may observe that the words employed by Nonnus for the sounds of the Pleiads coincide with those designating the sounds of the heavenly bodies (presumably referring to the Sun, Moon, and the five planets) in some - passages dealing with the music of the spheres.” It is also noteworthy that the Pleiads were the only heavenly body in the sphere of the fixed stars to which sound phenomena are specifically attributed. Another source, a Proclean scholion to Hesiod (probably not earlier than Nonnus) substitutes the individual Pleiads for the heavenly Muses in association with the planetary spheres: Tobrov dè natdag tac Meródas éEnvOordynoay ETTÀ otoas, TV KeXatvò, Tv Ztepönnv, tiv Mepönnv, Tv "HAÉKTPAV, TV ’AAkvövnv, THY Matav, tiv Tavyétnv. Iéoacs tadtag VVALELS Apxayyshırüs TV ETTÀ Gpoipv Toîc APLAYYÉLOLG EPESTWOAG' mv pèv Kedaiv@ tig Kpoviag cpaipac, tiv dè Lrepönnv tg Tod Aids, tiv dè Meponny ts “Apeoc, tiv dè HAËéktpav tig ‘HAtarfig, tiv Se 'Adxvóvnv tis Agpoditys, tiv de Matav fig Eppod, thv dè Tavy¿tnv tig LeAnvys. Kai ôfaar todtov ai œitior. Miav de &pa T@v ÉTTO OVVTAELV Ev TO AnAavet TETAYOAL Kadkrep GYAALA Evovp&vıov, 6 Sn Medda TPOGAYOPEDOVOLV, KOTPOV ENMaAVES KAI TOG idimTALG, EV TO Tadpo KATEOTNPLYHEVOV, TAG AVATOAATS Kal tac SOGEOL TALTOAANV TOD KEPOG TpOTTV EpyaLönevov. His (i. e. Atlas’s) daughters are said in the myths to be the Pleiads, who are seven (Kelaino, Sterope, Merope, Electra, Alcyone, Maia, Taygete), and that these all are archangelic powers presiding over the archangels of the seven spheres; 26 Cf. ñxó, in Nonn. D. 1, 242; 13, 414 (quoted in n. 24), and 38, 380 (quoted inn. 24), with Theo Sm., p. 147 Hiller (Évior dè Zeipiivag od tods cotépac AEyeoOut paorv, GAAG KATH tO TIvOayopiKdv Tods ÚTO TAG TobtTHV POPÄG yLVOMÉVOVG fxovc), and Simpl. In Cael. p. 468, IL. 21-2 Heiberg (oi dè IIv0ayóperor ¿vapuóviov TXOV ANd Tg TOV odpaviov CMLETOV KLVIGEWS ELEYOV Anoreietodan).— Cf. pavi, in Nonnus, 38, 381 (quoted in n. 25), with Philo of Alexandria, De vita Mosis, 2, 239 The Pleiads, or the First Cosmic Lyre 37 Kelaino of the sphere of Saturn; Sterope of that of Jupiter; Merope of that of Mars; Electra of that ofthe Sun; Alcyone of that of Venus; Maia of that of Mercury, and Taygete of that of the Moon. And the reasons for that are clear: there is one group of seven, settled in the sphere of the fixed stars as an image of what there is in heaven. This group is called Pleiads, and this is a heavenly body placed in the constellation of Taurus, which even the profane may watch, and which with its risings and settings causes a very important change of the air?” As in Nonnus, we may observe here the numerical correspondence between the Pleiads and the heavenly spheres. Apart from the strange association of the Pleiads with archangels, this text provides us a possible clue for answering the question: why were the Pleiads chosen as the first heavenly model of the seven-stringed lyre? The scholiast tells that the seven Pleiads were a model of another heptad, the one constituted by the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This endows the Pleiads with a function similar to that of the Ideas from which the Platonic Demiurge creates the sensible things.?8 Obviously, this association probably does not stem from the earliest Pythagorean doctrines, in which ten celestial regions were the norm. Furthermore, the concept of a Demiurge is Platonic rather than Pythagorean. It seems that the scholiast produced a conflation of Pythagorean and Platonic conceptions: the importance of the Pleiads and their correspondence with the planetary spheres rests on the Pythagorean interest in numerical coincidences; the Pleiads as a model for a celestial system seems to draw on the Platonic Ideas, now expressed in the language of myth. Such is the evidence for musical connections with the Pleiads. To judge from what Porphyrius said in his Life of Pythagoras, it seems that they were the first heavenly body to be linked with music by the Pythagoreans. Porphyrius quotes Aristotle as his source, and it is very likely that he was telling the truth, because the early Pythagoreans could not link the standard Greek seven-stringed lyre with the ten cosmic regions of their cosmological system. The Pleiads were later superseded by another heptad (formed by the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets of Antiquity’) (oi yap GotépEs eig yevónevor Xopög Koovtat ti LEAOG Enddrov; 6 8 odpavds ÖAoG eis POVIV àvaAva£ic Svvicetal TL TAV CAV ápetOv SinyHoacbar pépog;), and Simpl. In Cael. p. 464, 11. 14-19 Heiberg (év dè ó£0tno1 Kai Bapórnotv eicıv oi TAV EVAPLOVIOV AdyoL, EiKdtTHS TODTOVG Ev Tats &nooTKGEOLV edpnótes Kal 51d TUG ÁTTOOTÓ CEL Ev TOIg pEyEBEOLV àvéLoyov ÉxovoL Tate àrootéoeot Kal SL TH Heyé0n Ev tot raxdıncı Kai Ppaddtnor tfig adifig Avadoyiag PLAGTTIOLEVNS Evappoviov yivec80 poor NV povhv iftor TOV yégov pepopévov KOKAW TOV &otépwv). Pwvi is also used by Plato for his heavenly Sirens in the myth of Er, the first Greek account for the notion of cosmic music (Pl. Rep. 617 b: ¿mi SÈ tOv kÚxAov adtod Avwdev do” Excotov Beßnkevon Esipfiva OUHTEPLPEPOHÉVNV, PHVAV piav ieloav, Eva tóvov: éx NAGAV SÈ ÓxTO OdOOV LAV GPHOVLEV CULPHVETV). a Scholion to Hes. Op. 383 (= scholion Procli ad Hes. Op. v. 381). CE Pl. Rep. 596 b (odkodv Kai eiwbanev Ayer Sti è SnuLovpyòg EKATEPOD TOD Skedovs mpdc tiv idéav Blénov oto rotet); Pl. Tim. 28 a (tov HEV Ov dv 6 Inuiovpyòg npdg 1 Katà tadtà Exov PAEM@V Kel, TOLOÚTO TLV npooxp&pevog Tapadsetypati, thy idéav Kai ôbdvapiv adtod anepyaCntoa, .. E avayKns obtoc ànot eketoBot TAV). About the constitution of a group from the Sun, the Moon, and the five “ planets, cf. D. Panchenko, “Solar Light and the Symbolism of the Number Seven”, Hyperboreus 12 (2006): 1, 21-36.

found in association with the strings of the lyre; but this could only have happened when the earlier Pythagorean cosmology was replaced by the geocentric model in which neither the central fire nor the counter-earth were accepted, and in which the Earth was motionless at the center of the cosmos. Further, since the fixed stars were obviously something other than a planet, the number of “planets,” plus the Sun and the Moon, was seven. The astrological relevance of the Sun, Moon, and the five planets enhanced the importance of their heptad, and diminished the significance of the Pleiads for being associated with the heptachord lyre. The attention paid to these stars by the Pythagoreans might have been due not only to the numerical coincidence with the number of the strings on the standard lyre but also to the relevance of the Pleiads for determining the time in which important human activities should (or should not) be undertaken, as well as the beginning and end of the year and its seasons.*° But, after being replaced by the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets, the Pleiads kept their role as models of the human lyres, and were mentioned as such by some Alexandrine scholars and Latin poets, who made no mention of what seems the early Pythagorean origin of that idea. Besides, there are some scarce allusions to their connection to music (for example, when they are considered a choir, an image that is not referred to any other group of stars). Last, they reappeared in the cosmic “auditorium” at the twilight of Antiquity, as we have seen in Nonnus and in the scholion to Hesiod, where they were substituted for the Muses and linked to the archangels of each cosmic sphere. Francisco Molina Moreno Complutense University, Madrid B npou3BeqeHHuAx HEKOTOPHIX Tpe4eCKHX aBTOpoB B PAMKAX yUeHHA O KOCMH- YECKOH rapMoHHH YCTAHABJIHBACTCH COOTBETCTBHE MEX Ty HEÖECHBIMH TEJIAMM A CTpyHamu Impel. B KauecTBe CBA3aHHEIX C KOCMHUYECKOH MY3BIKOÏ HEÖECHBIX TEJI Y pa3HbIX aBTOpoB BbICTyNalM 3EMJIA, COJIHILE, JYHa, LATE H3BECTHEIX B AHTHYHOCTH INIaHeT H Chepa HEIIONBMIKHBIX 3BE3N. OMNHAKO BecbMa BEPOATHO, UTO HEPBbIM KOCMHYECKHM TEJIOM, CBA3AHHBIM C IMPoH, Opin IlmeaKsi, rpynna M3 CEMH 3BE3A, U3BECTHAA yxe Tomepy n BXOJAAMLAA B CO3Be3que Tenbila, H UTO cB4a3b [Lean c mapol ycraHoBHna nudaropeiupi mo xpaliHeli Mepe KO BPeMeHH Apuctotena. Bnocnegctsuu TlneaKsi Oni BBITECHEHBI CONHUEM, JyHOH U IIATbIO miaHerama. Tem He MeHee o cBa3u Ilnean c My3bIKOH He 3aGPIBAJIH Ha IIPOTAKEHHM BCETO CYIMecTBOBAHHA AHTHAHOË JIMTEPATY PB. 30 Cf. above n. 22.