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Pagina 1
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)In: Classical Philology, 76 - 1981 - p.93 - 100
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N Soromon J., The diastaltie ethos : CPR LXXVI 1981 93-100. | Musicological
and semantic research reveals a musicological-medical connection and resolves
eeen eer == problematic passages in Cleonides, Aristides Suns Ptolemy and others.
The hog must be Btaoraarixés and
passages containing textual difficulties
must be made to conform to the only conceivable musicological possibility.
Uassycal Philgles17
Pagina 2
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)Classical Philology, Vol. 76, No. 2. (Apr., 1981), pp. 93-100.
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Pagina 3
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)RISTIDES Quintilianus, Manuel Bryennius, and Cleonides all discuss
ethos in their musicological treatises,! and each of the three, along
with Ptolemy,? mentions the “diastaltic” ethos.? Aristides (30. 13)
describes it as the musical ethos “through which we arouse the spirit” (ray
de dtacradrixhy, du’ fs röv Oupdv eeyelpouev). Cleonides (206. 4-8) describes
it as the musical ethos “through which magnificence, the manly elevation
of the soul, heroic deeds, and similar feelings are displayed; it is used in
tragedy and genres of this character” (&orı de SuaoradriKdy uev jos pehoroutas,
& où onuaiverat neyakomperea Kal diapua Wvxijs avipddes kal mpáters Hpwikai
kai 740n robrois oixeta). Bryennius (362. 19-24) merely repeats the definition of Cleonides.* Ptolemy (106. 14-15) mentions the diastaltic ethos only
in an astronomical-musicological context. Though the definitions that
Greek musicologists (and Plato and Aristotle) give to the various ethe are
1. Modern editions of the Ilepi govoukîjs by Aristides Quintilianus (ca. A.D. 200?) are those
by A. Jahn, Aristides Quintilianus “De musica” libri III (Berlin, 1882), and R. P. WinningtonIngram, Aristides Quintilianus “De musica” libri tres (Leipzig, 1963). Only one German translation
exists, that by R. Schäfke, Aristides Quintilianus: “Von der Musik” (Berlin, 1937). No English
translation has been published, though T. J. Mathiesen is preparing one for future publication.
For the Eicaywyù âpuovikú of Cleonides (date unknown, also referred to as Euclid, Pappus, and
Zosimus), see the still indispensable K. von Jan, Musici scriptores graeci (Leipzig 1895), pp. 167207, and H. Menge, Euclidis opera omnia, vol. 8: Euclidis “‘Phaenomena” et scripta musica (Leipzig,
1916), pp. xxxvii-liv, 186-223. An English translation can be found in O. Strunk, “Harmonic
Introduction,” Source Readings in Music History (New York, 1950), pp. 34-46. I have prepared a
new text and translation which soon will be submitted for publication. Presently it rests as a dissertation (Chapel Hill, 1980). For the Byzantine Bryennius (fourteenth century), see I. Wallis, Operum
mathematicorum, vol. 3: Mavound Bpvevviov apyovrxa (Oxford, 1699), pp. 357-508, and G. H.
Jonker, The “Harmonics” of Manuel Bryennius (Groningen, 1970); the latter includes an English
translation. All references to Cleonides will specify the page and line numbers of Jan’s edition,
those of Aristides will refer to Winnington-Ingram’s edition, and those of Bryennius to Jonker’s
edition.
For a general discussion of musical ethos, the reader is referred to Pl. Resp. 397-400; S. Michaelides, The Music of Ancient Greece: An Encyclopaedia (London, 1978), pp. 110-13; E. A. Lippmann,
“The Sources and Development of the Ethical View of Music in Ancient Greece,” Musical Quarterly
49 (1963): 188-209; H. Abert, Die Lehre vom Ethos in der griechischen Musik (Leipzig, 1899); and
W. D. Anderson, Ethos and Education in Greek Music (Cambridge, Mass., 1966).
2. For an edition of Ptolemy’s ‘Apyovexa, see I. Düring, Die Har
ielehre des Klaudios Ptolemaios (Göteborg, 1930). A German translation can be found in Düring, Ptolemaios und Porphyrios
über die Musik (Göteborg, 1934). There is no English translation, though I have begun preparing
one. All references to Ptolemy refer to the page and line number in Diiring’s edition.
3. There are four kinds of musical ethos discussed by the Greeks: (1) the three types of melodic
ethos discussed in this paper—the diastaltic, systaltic, and hesychastic (or medium); (2) the more
commonly known forms of “harmonic” ethos which correspond to the seven harmoniai—Dorian,
Lydian, Phrygian, Hypodorian, Hypophrygian, Hypolydian, and Mixolydian; (3) the three types
of generic ethos which correspond to the three genera—diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic; (4)
rhythmic ethos. Aristides Quintilianus (10. 13-14) mentions ethos as the fifth type of difference
between notes, but this ethos does not correspond to an emotional state.
4. Bryennius actually discusses ethos two times, at 362. 19-20 and at 122. 2-3. The passages are
identical; both repeat the exact words of Cleonides.
[© 1981 by The University of Chicago]
0009-837X./81/7602-0001$01.00
Pagina 4
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)vague,’ let us for the moment assume the definitions of Aristides and
Cleonides (= Bryennius) to describe the same emotions (ethe). The most
immediate problem then becomes the very term öiaorakrıkös.
The manuscript traditions are quite confused and confusing in reporting
this term. In the Aristides Quintilianus tradition, at 30. 13 all the important
manuscripts offer the reading diacrarixyy,® with the exception of those
Cleonides manuscripts which include interpolations from Aristides.’ These
Aristides interpolations read öiasraArıxnv here at 30. 13, and Possevinus
emended this d:acradrixjy to ôvaorarwmr. Winnington-Ingram includes
these readings in his apparatus, and he adds Bryennius’ öaornuarırıv.
Aristides again uses the term at 40. 15. There, however, all the manuscripts
read ôaoradrikòs. Winnington-Ingram nonetheless prints d:acrarixos and
suggests, in the apparatus criticus, that the reader compare 30. 13, the
passage just discussed here.®
The Cleonides manuscripts offer even less security.’ The word is mentioned at 206. 4 and 206. 6. At 206. 4 only one, relatively inferior, manuscript
reads diacradrixod,” while the others read dcacrarixod, duacryrixod," and
dtaornparxod.2 At 206. 6 Jan prints duacradrixoy but gives no source for
his reading. All the manuscripts read taorngarikòv or dtacrarixdy,® and it
is Meibom who reads öiaoraXrıröv; he cites Vulcanius, the scribe of another
inferior manuscript.
5. See Pl. Resp. 397-99; Arist. Pol. 1340-41; Lucian Harm. 1. 10-12; and pseudo-Plutarch De
mus. passim. See also n. 35.
6. These important manuscripts are Winnington-Ingram’s V, N, R, F, and d.
7. Jan failed to recognize this group (qua-group) of Cleonides manuscripts, though he does
recognize the interpolations in Vulcanius’ manuscript—Lugdunensis Perizonianus F. 41 (olim
Lugdunensis 135)—and in the manuscript—Vaticanus gr. 1341—which Antonius Possevinus used
for his edition of the treatise (“Euclidis Musica,” Bibliotheca de Ratione Studiorum II (Venice,
1603), pp. 260-72). This group, here designated as q-group, consists of six manuscripts, three of
which are attributed to Cleonides, three to “Anonymous.” They all include interpolations from
Aristides Quintilianus at 185. 15 (= Aristides 8. 3-9. 12), 186. 21 (= Aristides 9. 15-10. 15), 190.
11 (= Aristides 12. 6-12. 8), and 207. 7 (= Aristides 28. 10-30. 17). These manuscripts also include
several interpolations from Bryennius. The exact relation to and reflection of Aristides’ original
text is hard to determine from these interpolations.
8. But no matter which form Wallis printed in his late seventeenth-century edition of Bryennius,
the Bryennius manuscripts actually vary greatly at Bryennius 362. 19-24; six have ôcaorarur,
eight have dtaornuartxhy, and Jonker prints ötacra(A)rırnv. The six reading diaorarınv are
(Jonker’s abbreviations) R, Ma, Mb, Pc, La, and Lb. Those reading ötaornuarırnv are Va, H,
Pa, Oa, Om, Mc, N, and Am.
Comparing the two Aristides passages, one finds that even the Aristides manuscripts themselves
cannot agree on the precise term, for in one passage (40. 15) they unanimously read òtaaraArukòs
and in the other (30. 13) they unanimously—with the exception of the Cleonides manuscripts—
read dtacrarikyy. Similarly, the Aristides tradition differs as to the term used to describe the
“systaltic” ethos, VNM reading overaArcxqy and FR reading ovorarukijv; as all concur on btaoraXrırös at 40. 13, so do they concur with overaXrırös at 40. 15.
9. I follow Jan here, but he neglected to examine seven codices, including Vaticanus gr. 2338,
which includes two superior versions of the treatise.
10. L (Lipsiensis gr. 25).
11. M (Venetus Marcianus VI/3, twelfth century), Jan’s most valuable manuscript.
12. This reading is found in a number of manuscripts, including significantly those manuscripts
which alone contain the Aristides interpolations.
13. MLW read ötaornuarıröv, and NB read ôvaoraruxèr. Jan uses “B” for a codex which
contains two different versions of the treatise, with pp. 311-18 attributed to Cleonides, pp. 300310 to Pappus.
14. Lugdunensis Perizonianus F. 41; cf. n. 7. Again there are textual difficulties with the “systaltic” ethos, BM3L reading ovorarukòr and M1W reading avorarıköv.
Pagina 5
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)The evidence of the Bryennius manuscripts does not provide us with an
entirely independent view; Bryennius used Cleonides as his source here,
and so one would doubt that Bryennius’ manuscript tradition could offer
an independent, let alone unanimous, report.!® The readings at both 362.
19-20 and 362. 19 vary from dtacrarixjy to dtacrnparixny to dtactradriKny.
Wherever the term appears in Bryennius’ text, Jonker prints a hesitant
“Scaora[A]rex-.”26
In Ptolemy only one manuscript, Vaticanus gr. 176 (Düring’s A), preserves diagradrixa; the rest and Düring read ôvacraruká.
The manuscript traditions of Aristides, Cleonides, Ptolemy, and Bryennius have proved themselves hopelessly confused in their preservation of
this term, and so paleographical research must now yield to musicological
and semantic. While there is no evidence that a word òtaarnrukós (read by
the valuable twelfth-century M in the Cleonides tradition) existed, the
other three variants, ôvacradrukós, Ôtaornuarikós, and dacrarixds, are all
attested in other authors. Araornuarırds is found elsewhere in Aristides as
well (101. 4, 5. 26), but there it has no connection with a type of ethos; it
is only an adjective referring to “intervals,” for ôtáornua is an extremely
common, rudimentary musicological term meaning “interval.”!? The
adjective ösaornuarırös can also be found in the musicological treatises of
Ptolemy (100. 29) and Aristoxenus (13. 21 da Rios).!8 Archytas (1), Porphyry (Sent. 44), Apollonius Dyscolus (Pron. 57. 10), and Philo Mechanicus
(Bel. 2. 184) also use the term in a nonmusicological sense.
Atacradrixés is found only in the passages cited here (perhaps), and in
Apollonius Dyscolus (Adv. 185. 10 and Pron. 24. 12). Avaorarixés is found
in a musicological sense at Ptolemy 29. 2 and perhaps at 106. 14; Diiring
reports the reading at 29. 2 as secure, but that at 106. 14 has a lectio varia.
The term also has this meaning in Nicomachus (282. 6 Jan) as well as in
Timaeus Locrus (100E) and Plutarch (Mor. 952B and Pomp. 53).
The meaning of dvacrnuarixds is evident from its derivation. In each
nuance discussed in LSJ, it refers to an “interval,” be it a musical interval,
a distance of space, or a geometrical (radius) dimension. That a word with
such musicological significance should find its way into the treatises of
15. To be sure, at 362. 19-20 one finds in Jonker’s apparatus dvagrarixi and dvacrnpariKhy.
The same manuscripts also consistently read the same variants at 362. 23 and 362. 24 with a few
exceptions.
16. At 362. 19 he shows his frustration by announcing in his apparatus, “scripsi dubitans utrum
codd. meliores (et A.Q. W.-I.) sequar an Wallisii atque Jani auctoritatem (cf. supra ad. p. 122.2sq).”
At 122. 2 (and 122. 3) Bryennius again quotes Cleonides and all the Bryennius manuscripts have
Ötaornuarırod, but Jonker follows Wallis and Jan in writing duacradreKod (-kòv); he questions
Winnington-Ingram’s (30. 13) Öraoraruiv. “AQ. W.-J. [sic] p. 30. 13 scr.—oraruwr (= disintegrating(?) cf. L.S.J. s.v.).”
17. Auäormua (“interval”) is essentially the difference between two notes (#86yyo). The
Aristoxenians recognized intervals smaller than the whole tone—diesis (quarter tone and third
tone) and hemitone—and larger—trihemitone, ditone, dia tessaron (two and one-half tones), dia
pente (three and one-half tones), tetratone, pentatone, and the dia pason (six tones), and so on.
For major discussions of ëtáornua, see Aristides Quintilianus 10. 16-12. 14; Bryennius 98. 9-102.
22; Cleonides 187. 3-189. 8; Aristoxenus 21. 17-22. 3 da Rios; Theon of Smyrna 3; Martianus
Capella 948-53; Anonymous Bellermann 22, 58; Nicomachus 12; and Gaudentius 3.
18. For Aristoxenus, see R. da Rios, Aristoxeni “Elementa harmonica” (Rome, 1954). No doubt
Aristoxenus had discussed these ethical matters, whence their appearance in Cleonides and Aristides
(and Ptolemy), but most of his musicological works are lost.
Pagina 6
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)Aristides, Cleonides, and Bryennius is not at all surprising. It is certainly a
lectio facilior; any scribe with a reasonable amount of musicological knowledge could have written it absentmindedly, while a scribe with no musicological background could have inserted it since it was a more familiar term,
that is, dáornua, which he had seen earlier in his copying.!° In addition to
this common method of paleographical reasoning, one can also point out
that a musical ethos cannot be “intervallic.” The names of the ethe refer to
feelings, not musical constructions; in Cleonides, Bryennius, and Aristides,
avoradrixov (“depressing’’) and jovxacrixéy (“soothing”) are the types of
names given to ethe If nonemotional names are given, they are geographical—Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Ionian—or at least generic—
diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic—but not constructional.
Jonker questioned the meaning of ôtaorarwés, “disintegrating,” given in
LSJ, which states that the adjective derives from &äoraois and pertains
only to “discord”; in Plutarch Pompey 53 its connection with Aöyoı necessitates the meaning “causing discord,” and the same meaning is found in
Nicomachus 282. 6 Jan. The ethos which causes “magnificence and heroic
deeds” can certainly not be the same one which “causes discord.” In the
1968 Supplement to LSJ, however, there is a new offering, “exciting,
exalting,” found in Ptolemy 1. 12, 3. 11, and in Cleonides 13 (= 206. 4-5)
2
This definition is incorrect. LSJ has supplied it only because WinningtonIngram’s 1963 edition of Aristides Quintilianus reads öuaorarırös at 40. 15
and 30. 13 (= 1. 19 and 1. 12); the translations, “excited, exalted,” which
will be discussed presently, were used in the earlier LSJ for ÖraoraArukós.
That is, the editors found dacradrixés to be nothing other than a lectio
varia, and so they merely transferred the definition of ôtacrarukós from the
earlier edition to the definition of d:ac7arixés in the Supplement.
With 8taorngaruwkós belonging clearly to the realm of paleographical error
and d:acrarixés having a meaning not at all appropriate to Cleonides’ and
Aristides’ definitions of the word, there is only one alternative remaining,
btacradrixés. Atacradzixds has the basic meaning of “serving to distin19. This type of error is common in technical treatises, e.g., at Cleonides 190. 2, M reads ôtárovov
(diatonic) for öirovov (ditone).
20. The avorarıkös found in the manuscripts of Cleonides and Aristides in all likelihood results,
because of their proximity in the texts, from the attraction to Öuacrarırös. ‘Hovxacrixds is absolutely secure.
Cleonides (206. 10-14) says the systaltic is the ethos “through which the soul is led toward
humility and an unmanly condition” (svoraArıröv ôè, bv’ où cuvayerar n Yuxn eis Tamewórnra
kal &vavdpov ÖLddenıv). It is harmonious with ‘‘amorous feelings, lamentations, wailings and the
like” (äpuôe 68 rù rovodrov karäornna Tots épwrixoîs mádeor Kal Opjvors Kai oïkrous Kai Tots
mapamdnoiots). Aristides Quintilianus agrees; for him (30. 12-13) the systaltic ethos is that “through
which we move distressing feelings” (òt’ is m&ôn Avanpa Kuvodper).
The hesychastic ethos of Cleonides (206. 14-15) is the ethos which accompanies “tranquillity of
the soul and a free and peaceful condition” (hovxaorikòv dt 706s &orı neAomorlas G mapérera
Hpeuórns Wvxis kal xaraornua &Nevdepıöv re Kal eipmvıröv). Hymns, paeans, encomia and the
like are used here. Aristides (30. 14-15) calls this third type of ethos the medium (uéomr), and it
is through this ethos that “we lead the soul to quietude” (rip òë uéonv du’ js eis npepiav THY Wvxiv
Tepıäyoner).
21. LSJ does not acknowledge variant readings here (Stacrartkés) as it does in its supplemental
material to öuaoraATıKös.
Pagina 7
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)guish.’”? As many words in Greek (and English) which originally have the
meaning “separate” tend also to have the meaning “superior”? öuaorakrıkös
can also take on this meaning. It does so, however, only in the area of
musicology; LSJ then offers this second meaning and cites Aristides Quintilianus 1. 12 (= 30. 13) and Cleonides 13 (= 206. 4-5) for the meaning
“exciting, exalting.”# Unfortunately, there is no other citation for this
technical meaning of ô&aoraNruwxés in either LSJ or Stephanus. Stephanus, in
fact, merely quotes the passages in Cleonides (attributed at the time to
Euclid) under scrutiny here and does not attempt to translate the poorly
attested term. LSJ does make this rather bold attempt and hypothesizes
“exalting, exciting” from the information given by Aristides and Cleonides,
for these two authors say that the diastaltic ethos ‘arouses the soul” and/or
“shows magnificence, manly elevation of the soul, heroic deeds and the
like.”
Reading Cleonides’ definition, one would have to reject LSJ’s “exciting”
as a definition for &taorahrwés, for noble and heroic qualities are moved
by this ethos; Cleonides’ diastaltic ethos does not “excite” the human
spirit to perform heroic deeds. ‘“Exalting” is more acceptable, for the
exalted soul can indeed achieve a feeling of magnificence. But this definition
of &aoraNruwos nonetheless still falls short of the ideal. The exalted soul
does not necessarily perform heroic deeds or become “manly” (àvôp@ôes)
just because of its “elevation” (Siapua).2> A technical term is best left
untranslated when there is little evidence for its precise meaning,? but I
propose “distinguishing, uplifting” as an English translation which covers
Aristides’ “arousing,” Cleonides’ “showing magnificence, manly elevation
and heroic deeds,” and the etymological “separate, distinguished.”
Further suggestions for understanding the full implications of the meaning
of dvacradrixés arise from investigating the uses and legacy of the verb
from which diacradriés is derived. AuaoréAAw, of course, means “to put
asunder, expand, separate” (LSJ, I. 1), and many verbs meaning “to
separate” again mean “to be superior, excel.’”” Avacré\dw has this meaning
22. This is the basic meaning of the adjective in Apollon. Dysc. Adv. 185. 10, Pron. 24. 12 and
49. 24, the scholiast to Eur. Med. 334(8), and Eust. 73. 31 and 1610. 3.
23. Derivatives of duiornm, e.g., Stagrarixds and Òtaornpartkós, can also (etymologically)
refer to ‘distinguishing, separate”; cf. Diog. Laert. 4. 33. Greek, like English, is wont to stretch
this “distinguishing” into “superior, elevated.” The usages of dtadepw (LSJ, III. 4) are a good
example, as are dvarpéw (LSJ, III. 1) and dvaxpivw (LSJ, I. 3 and II. 1). It is conceivable that
“superior, elevated” could be used as the meaning for dvaornuarixés; cf. SyKos kal òráornpa
[Longin.] 40. 2 (= LSJ, II) with dyxos Kai diapya in Plut. Mor. 853C or [Arist.] Aud. 800435 é
toddof &tacruaros. But this is not an attested meaning for this word. See also W. Rhys Roberts
(ed.), [Longinus]: “On the Sublime” (Cambridge, 1899), s.v. Suatpety (pp. 196-97).
24. The LSJ 1968 Supplement incorrectly tries to eliminate the word—on account of Winnington-
Ingram’s 1963 edition of Aristides Quintilianus—as a varia lectio in both Cleonides and Aristides
Quintilianus. Moreover, LSJ should have added Aristides 1. 19 in addition to, not instead of, 1. 12
and Cleonides 1. 13.
25. Cf. Plut. Mor. 853C; [Longin.] 12. 1; and Diog. Laert. 9. 7.
26. Of the translators of Cleonides, Strunk (1950) has “diastaltic,” Paul (1872) “diastaltische,”
Menge (1916) “diastalticus,” and Ruelle (1884) ‘“diastaltique.” Meibom (1652) and Gregorius
(1703) have “distendens,” while Pena (1557), Dasypodius (1571), Herigone (1634), and Possevinus
(1603) have “Intervallaris,” and Forcadel (1566) “intervalaire.”
27. Cf. n. 23.
Pagina 8
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)in Apollonius Dyscolus (Pron. 39. 1) where it is opposed to &réAuror era,
but this is the only citation given in LSJ for this meaning.’ Another derivative of or&AAw, karaaréN\w, is known to have had “ethical” musicological
applications, for example, Sextus Empiricus Adversus mathematicos 6. 19
Tv eN@y TA uev elvar dreyeprixa THs Wuxijs Ta de karacraArıka and Iamblichus
De vita Pythagorica 25. 113. In both examples xaragradrexés refers to a
relaxed and sedate (ethical) quality of music. Obviously the idea behind
the use of the root -oreAXw gives the musical compound movement; the
preposition gives this movement a direction. Kara-, as seen in the above
two examples, is “down,”?® and éca- in composition has a variety of meanings, that used here necessarily meaning “thoroughly” (cf. LSJ, D. IV, V).
Perhaps even more to the point is the ubiquitous use of compounds of o7é\\w
in ancient Greek (and modern English) medical terminology. Avacré\Xkw
is used to mean the dilation of the lungs ([Arist.] Aud. 800a35), of the
heart (Gal. 2. 597), and of the pulse (Gal. 8. 736).% It is not at all rare for
writers in one technical discipline to adopt the vocabulary of another
technical discipline for their own use; this is especially true in the peripatetic tradition. The term otornua, for instance, is used by musicologists,
metricians, and physicians; and weraßoAn is a musicological, military,
literary, and political term. Nor is musicological interest in medicine
restricted to terminology alone. Aristides (89. 10 and 113. 27) describes
the relationship of body and soul by referring to tarpôv matöes,®! and his
entire description of rhythm at 82. 25-26 is filled with medical terminology.”
Ultimately, it seems that Aristides Quintilianus and Cleonides are describing
these musical ethe not in musical terms as much as they are in musicalmedical terms, the result of which is not an intellectual musicological
experience, but an emotional-physical (or “musical’’-physical) experience.
This is why neither Cleonides nor Aristides Quintilianus tries to equate
these ethe with those “harmonic” ethe discussed by Plato and Aristotle;
the former refer to physical effects, the latter to musicological constructs.?3
Once this peripatetic musicological-medical connection is manifest, and
with the actual meanings of dvacrarixés, dtagradrixés, and ÖLaornuarıkös
28. Its second-century A.D. date could postdate either Ptolemy or Cleonides, although the date
of neither is secure.
29. The äva- in &vaoradors does not signify “up,” but “backwards,” e.g., Gal. 12. 664.
30. Cf. cvaré\Aw in Hippoc. VM 22 and karaoreAXw in Diosc. Med. 2. 1. See also B. Meinecke,
“Music and Medicine in Classical Antiquity,” in Music and Medicine, ed. M. Schullian and M.
Schoen (New York, 1948), pp. 76-77. For pointing out this vital connection between musical and
medical terminology I am extremely grateful and entirely indebted to the anonymous referee for CP.
31. Aristides (83. 21) also relates different rhythms to kırnaeıs trav àprnpiür.
32. Touyépro kav rats Tov opuyu®r Kujoeow où did TovobTwv Xpóvwv Tas ovoro/ /\às Tats
StacroNats dvramroddévres byıewörarot.
33. We can, despite the lack of detailed information, at least attempt to equate Cleonides’
description of the diastaltic ethos with Heracleides Ponticus’ (ap. Ath. 624D) description of the
ethos effected by the Dorian harmonia (“scale”). Heracleides describes this ethos as dvöp@öes and
ueyahomperés, Cleonides as peyadorperea... ôlapua Wuvxijs dvôp@des. The resemblance is
obvious. Heracleides then continues to describe the Dorian with other adjectives such as oxvOpwadv
kal opoôpóv (“sober and vehement”). For this meaning of okvôpwrés, which normally means
“sullen, gloomy,” cf. Dem. 45. 68. Arist. Pol. 134054 describes the Dorian similarly, calling it
“the most steadfast and manly” (wepi ris ôwpuori...oraouuwrärns obons Kal pakor’ dos
éxobons dvépetov). [Plut.] De mus. 1136D-F labels the same harmonia as àEiwuaruéy and oeuvór.
Pagina 9
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)fully understood, the problematic passages in Cleonides, Aristides, Bryennius, and Ptolemy at once become resolved. The ethos must be the diastaltic,
and passages which once contained textual difficulties now must conform
to the only conceivable musicological possibility. The major Aristides manuscripts at Aristides 30. 13 must yield their draorarukòs to the ôvaora)rikòs
of the Aristides-interpolated Cleonides manuscripts. Winnington-Ingram’s
emendation of dtagrarixds for (all) the manuscripts’ ôtaoraruwès should be
rejected. Bryennius’ text should read ôtaorariwkoû (-kòv) at 122. 2(3) and
362. 23(24) instead of Ötaora[X]ruoû (-kòv), and Jonker’s lengthy apparatus
notes can be ignored. Jan’s text should remain unchanged even though the
dtacradrixod at 206. 4 is found in only one somewhat inferior manuscript
and even though that at 206. 6 is found only in Vulcanius and thus Meibom
(and Jan). Ptolemy’s text at 106. 14 should read d:acradrixd as well,
especially in conjunction with ovoraArıra at 106. 13.3
We must next briefly investigate the diastaltic ethos as defined by
Cleonides and Aristides Quintilianus to see if they do indeed define the
same ethos. This investigation is necessary on account of the general
inconsistency in the Greek descriptions of ethe.% Aristides’ definition seems
to apply to the medical terminology more closely than does Cleonides’
definition, but this does not rule out a close connection between the two
authors. Moreover, one should compare the definitions of the systaltic
and hesychastic ethe in Aristides and Cleonides.% As one might expect from
the very name, the systaltic ethos is intended as the polar opposite of the
diastaltic ethos in both authors. The hesychastic or medium ethos also
seems to be paralleled in both authors despite the variation in terminology.
If Aristides’ definitions of the systaltic and hesychastic (“medium”) so
closely resemble those of Cleonides, then it would seem that Aristides
intended his rather simple definition of the diastaltic ethos to mean the
same as Cleonides’ more elaborate definition. Nonetheless, one still must
use caution here. Cleonides and Aristides apparently used the same source,
but there is still some difficulty in explaining away the difference in phrasing
and emphasis.
It still seems that the three ethe of Aristides and Cleonides (and Bryennius) are not in any way intended to correspond to any specific three of the
seven basic harmoniai.*® The imprecision of definition and the plurality of
34. Also, Ptolemy’s third ethos, the middle (röv ueratù .. .) relates to Aristides’ uéonv.
35. Heracleides (ap. Ath. 625B), for example, describes the Hypophrygian as “harsh and rough”
(ok\npòv kai abornpér) while Lucian (Harm. 1. 10-11) labels it “subtle” or “elegant” (yAapupér).
In a rather infamous discrepancy, Plato (Resp. 398E) labels the Lydian harmonia as “soft” and
“convivial” (uadaxédv, ovumorukór), while his Stagirite pupil (Pol. 1342532) maintained that it
was the ideal, orderly harmonia with which to educate a young lad (6a rd ölvaodaı kbopov 7’
exe kai matdelay). Apparently the “mood” of a harmonia was a matter for subjective interpretation.
36. Given supra, n. 20.
37. It corresponds to the ethos evoked either by Plato’s Mixolydian harmonia (Resp. 398E
Opnvpdns [“lamenting”]) or his Lydian (uadaxév [“soft”]).
38. They correspond most closely to the “soft” Lydian of Plato.
39. Cleonides does not acknowledge the existence of the karmoniai; for him the Dorian, Lydian,
and Phrygian are tones (róvot or rpórrot). Aristides is more interested in antiquarian matters.
Pagina 10
Vedi nel PDF(si apre in una nuova finestra)opinions about the ethos of many harmoniai make such a correspondence
impracticable. The ethe described in Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics,
Heraclides, pseudo-Plutarch, and Lucian are categorically specific ethe
(however vague their description) to be attached to specific harmoniai,
that is, scales, melodic phrases, and cadences. They are technical musicological constructs which produce vague, emotive responses. The three ethe
described by Cleonides, Aristides, and Bryennius are in contrast physicalmusical descriptions, general descriptions of physiological and therefore
emotional states caused by vague types of melodies. In the harmonic ethe
the reactions are vague, the music specific; in the melodic ethe, the music
is vague and the reaction specific.” That Cleonides tells us that the diastaltic
ethos was suitable for the lyrics of tragedy does not delineate more finely
the musical range of this ethos, for pseudo-Plutarch (1136C-1137 A)
reminds us that the Mixolydian (lamenting) was suitable for tragedy as
were the Dorian, Lydian, and Ionian. If pseudo-Plutarch is offering us
reliable information here, then Cleonides was much too vague in assigning
the diastaltic ethos to tragedy. Tragedy contains more than “magnificence” ;
it contains lamentations as well, and in this instance the systaltic ethos
should have corresponded to tragedy as well according to Cleonides’ (and
Bryennius’) definition. Cleonides did not make it correspond, however, and
once again an ancient Greek musicologist has shown modern scholarship
that his reliability so far as music of “classical” Greece is concerned is
suspect.
University of Minnesota
40. Even so, if the systaltic ethos is appropriate for love, lamentations, wailing, and the like,
then only the Mixolydian harmonia described by Plutarch (De mus. 1136D), Aristotle (Pol. 13405),
and Plato (Resp. 398E) could evoke this melodic ethos. The plaintive and lamenting Mixolydian
might also be used to evoke the hesychastic of middle ethos, though the soft Lydian of Plato seems
more “middle” of the road and peaceful than the emotional Mixolydian. The diastaltic ethos,
however, with its ueyahorpérea could correspond to either the Dorian of Heracleides, pseudoPlutarch, and Aristotle, or to the majestic Hypodorian of pseudo-Aristotle, or possibly, following
Aristides’ definition, to the rousing Phrygian of Aristotle, and perhaps even to the exciting, bacchic
Hypolydian.