The birth of harmony out of the spirit of tekne

Cars ça x AFSNASWR, À. ANNA AFONASINA THE BIRTH OF HARMONY OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF TEKHE LANGUAGE: Russian and English ISSUE: ZXOAH 6.1 (2012) 58-75 KEYWORDS: Philosophical terminology, Empedocles, Heraclitus, ancient art and technology ABSTRACT: Mycenaean Greek exhorted a considerable influence on the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmonia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing ancient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropriate, technical, context. As P. llievski has convincingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean werd (hjermo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains the harmonia by means of lyre and bow, maxing us understand that this presupposes something more than visible connection, — certain “: Aden and secret nature, — and he chooses lyre and bow because they symbolize the same innate connection which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Empedocies connects harmonia with Aphrodite — one of the creative powers. It was important ‘or him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different refts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of de’elcpr:: nt of the term of harmonia from its technical to abstract meaning.

OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF TEKHE ANNA AFONASINA The centre for Ancient philosophy and the classical tradition Novosibirsk State University, Russia afonasina@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Mycenaean Greek exhorted a considerable influence on the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmonia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing ancient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropriate, technical, context. As P. Ilievski has convincingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains the harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than visible connection, – certain hidden and secret nature, – and he chooses lyre and bow because they symbolize the same innate connection which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Empedocles connects harmonia with Aphrodite – one of the creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term of harmonia from its technical to abstract meaning. KEYWORDS: Philosophical terminology, Empedocles, Heraclitus, ancient art and technology The following analysis of the concept of “harmony” 1 in Heraclitus and Empedocles has been inspired by Petar Ilievski’s article «The Origin and Semantic Development of the Term Harmony»,2 in which, on the basis of some Linear B inscriptions, he convincingly proves that the origins of the word harmonia are found in the Mycenaean Greek. Taking his results into consideration I would like to re-examine those contexts in Heraclitus and Empedocles where one can hear a distant echo of the most ancient meaning of the word harmonia. Scholars tend to believe that the first traces of the words with the root “harm-” belong to Homeric Greek, where the word ἅρμα used to mean chariot. The importance of Ilievski's work consists in tracing this history further back. He believes that Homer borrowed ἅρμα from Mycenaean Greek, where this word meant wheel, having applied it, as it were, pars pro toto. In 1 2 The work is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Ilievski 1993. ΣΧΟΛΗ Vol. 6. 1 (2012) www.nsu.ru/classics/schole

Mycenaean Greek the word ἱππία was used for chariot, while (h)armota meant wheel. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a chariot without wheels, therefore this extension of the meaning of (h)armota appears to be quite natural and is preserved in some modern languages (cf. the Russian koleso – kolesnitsa). The Mycenaean chariot wheel, the (h)armota, was not just a solid disc put on an axle, but a felloe, connected with the axle by means of spokes, which made the whole construction lighter and stronger (see Illustrations, Fig. 22). And at that time this was a relatively recent technical advance. In other words, (h)armota is a strong connection of parts, or the arrangement where the parts are joined into the one, this one being the most important detail of the construction of the chariot as a whole, the wheel. “Together with the technological process of this invention the technical term (h)armo was created in the Mycenaean society, and it continued to be used in the derivatives ἁρμόζω and ἁρμονία. Second, the dialectal basis both of the noun (h)armo and the verb ἁρμόζω can be explained only by Mycenaean phonetic rules, according to which the inherited IE vocalic nasal -mŋ- developed a reflex -mo-. The verb ἁρμόζω is, in fact, a technical term too, and there is no doubt that the noun ἁρμονία is derived from this verb” (Ilievski 1993, 23). This important observation inspired my attempt to look again at the development of early Greek philosophic terminology, which, in its nascence, as it appears, still retains numerous ancient connotations. Having appropriated the words used in different tekhnai, philosophers, volens nolens, employ metaphors referring back to the work of carpenters, pot makers, melters and other tekhnitai, and the fragments of Heraclitus and Empedocles demonstrate this very well. Now I will turn to a number of instances where the word harmonia occurs in Heraclitus and Empedocles in order to show that they have chosen the metaphor not by accident but because this word was still closely related with the most ancient meaning of the noun (h)armo. Let us start with a well known Heraclitus' saying (fr. 9 Marcovich / 54 DK): ἁρμονίη ἀφανὴς φανερῆς κρείττων. Two different English translations help to understand the meaning better. Ch. Kahn 3 translates it as follows: “The hidden attunement is better than the obvious one”. M. Marcovich4 renders it thus: “Invisible connection is stronger than visible”. The very fact that they translate the word «harmony» into the modern language is significant.5 The previous fragment and fr. 8 M. (123 DK) belong closely together: φύσις κρύπτεσθαι φιλεῖ. The word φύσις here is not the nature as environment but a true character of a thing, its inner constitution, and special features. The point is that these inner features are 3 Kahn 1979. Marcovich 2001. 5 Edward Hussey in The Presocratics (London, 1995) gives a still different translation “Latent structure is master of obvious structure” (p. 35).

often not manifested, that is, the true being is hidden from the multitude's view. We also can observe this phenomenon in personal interrelations: persons often display their nature in extreme situations, which make socially determined behavior contrary to personal nature no longer possible, or when somebody trusts his/her secrets and wishes only to the closest friends. To be sure this psychological interpretation is fully appropriate in the context of Heraclitus’ philosophy: just recollect the evidence given by Diogenes Laertius (fr. 93 (52 DK), where he tells us about Heraclitus’ playing dice with children and his rejecting to enter into the world of political games. The fragments 9 (54 DK) and 8 (123 DK) are often interpreted together because they contain the words κρύπτεσθαι and ἀφανὴς. The hidden connection or joining (harmonia) (which is better then the obvious one) and φύσις (understood as the inner constitution) stay in a close relation to each other. What is at issue here is the inner fitting together. Once we return to the ancient notion of the “wheel having an inner joint” and the philosopher’s thought receives a new twist. The felloe without spokes is much more fragile and vulnerable to destruction than the one with spokes, as is the nature without harmonia. «The phrase 'harmonie aphanes', – according to Kahn,6 – might thus be taken as a general title for Heraclitus' philosophical thought. No work of art achieves a unity and fitting-together as strong as the natural kosmos which most men fail to see». Our next fragment 27 (51 DK) has given rise to long scholarly debates: παλίντροπος7 ἁρμονίη ὅκωσπερ τόξου καὶ λύρης. Leaving the subtleties of the well known discussion on two different readings of παλίντροπος versus παλίντονος in Hippolytus and Plutarch to the experts,8 I will instead try to grasp why Heraclitus had chosen this metaphor in order to convey his ideas. This question would be redundant, should we able to clearly visualize the construction of an ancient lyre. But in the absence of preserved exemplars, we have to rely on a very general poetic tradition and hopelessly frontal depictions on the vases. A story about the invention of lyre is told in the Homeric hymn to Hermes: 47 πῆξε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐν μέτροισι ταμὼν δόνακας καλάμοιο πειρήνας διὰ νῶτα διὰ ῥινοῖο χελώνης. ἀμφὶ δὲ δέρμα τάνυσσε βοὸς πραπίδεσσιν ἑῇσι 50 καὶ πήχεις ἐνέθηκ᾽, ἐπὶ δὲ ζυγὸν ἤραρεν ἀμφοῖν, 6 Kahn 1979, 203. The Russian translator has misleadingly chosen a literal rendering “reverse harmonia”, instead of more understandable “an attunement (or 'fitting together') turning back <on itself>” (Kahn 195). 8 Kahn believes that Plutarch made a mistake, being confused by a well known Homer’s usage: παλίντονα τόξα. One can observe the same situation in Proclus, who, according to Kahn's opinion, has made the mistake either under Plutarch's influence or sited this well known formula just from memory. For details of this very interesting scholarly discussion cf. Marcovich 2001, 124-129, Kahn 1979, 195-200.

ἑπτὰ δὲ θηλυτέρων ὀίων ἐτανύσσατο χορδάς.9 J. Landels, a well known researcher of the ancient musical instruments, has carefully examined the content of the Homeric hymn to Hermes and has tried to explain the structure described: «The most natural way to interpret the poet's phrase 'inserted the arms' would be to suppose that the two curved lengths of wood passed through the recesses in the rim of the shell where the animal's hind legs had been (the shell was probably used upside-down, with the 'head' end at the bottom), and extended to the rim at the base, where they were probably jointed together. This would ensure that they, and not the tortoiseshell, bore the stress caused by the tension in the strings».10 As we have only frontal depictions of the lyres (an instance see at Figs. 13, 14 и 18), it is difficult to say whether the arms were also curved in the direction to the viewers or not. The two-dimensional pictures do not capture this feature, but, quite unexpectedly, it is Heraclitus, as J. Landels believes, who can help us. Comparison of a lyre with a bow could indicate that the former was, in the manner of the latter, somehow bent forward to allow some space for the strings. Thus the harmony for Heraclitus is still a string or attunement, the fastener joining the opposites together, and this refers back to the technical and physical aspects of the term under consideration. This fragment reflects one of the most important features of Heraclitus' ontological views, to wit, the idea that enmity lies behind every action. Two parts of the whole stand in counteraction, they are turning in different directions and are stretched together in order to lead to a certain effect – to produce sound or to shoot an arrow. I think that Plutarch's παλίντονος was not a mistake: this word would convey the idea of the fragment perfectly well. A somewhat different picture emerges in Empedocles. Instead of keeping the original meaning of harmony, he places it in the technical context out of which this word has initially arisen. In his introduction to Empedocles' fragments M. Wright notes the particular role of fire and even its dominance in comparison with other three elements.11 He gives a number of examples where fire influences the changes in other elements. It hardens air to the state of a crystal body (Aetius 2.11.2). Fr. 454 Bollack (В 73 DK) is of special interest in this connection: καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα· ὡς δὲ τότε χθόνα Κύπρις, ἐπεί τ' ἐδίηνεν ἐν ὄμβρωι, 9 [47] He cut stalks of reed to measure and fixed them, fastening their ends across the back and through the shell of the tortoise, and then stretched ox hide all over it by his skill. [50] Also he put in the horns and fitted a cross-piece upon the two of them, and stretched seven strings of sheep-gut (ET by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Hesiod. Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. Harvard Univ. Press, 1995, p. 57). 10 Landels 1999, 63. Wright 1981.

εἴδεα ποιπνύουσα θοῶι πυρὶ δῶκε κρατῦναι ... 12 What is described is the process of pottery work. Water makes the clay soft and capable of receiving appropriate form, while fire hardens it in the kiln. In her skilled work Aphrodite as a craftsman uses various devices, as Fr. 411 (В 87) clearly shows: γόμφοις ἀσκήσασα καταστόργοις Ἀφροδίτη. Note his usage of the word γόμφος, nail, a form of a fastener not unlike ἁρμονία, – the feature which did not escape the attention of Homer: τέτρηνεν δ' ἄρα πάντα καὶ ἥρμοσεν ἀλλήλοισι, γόμφοισιν δ' ἄρα τήν γε καὶ ἁρμονίῃσιν ἄρασσεν (5, 247–248). Harmonia is used as an instrument in the hands of Aphrodite, or Love. The same theme is present in Fr. 450 (В 71), where Empedocles depicts how Aphrodite fits together (συναρμοσθέντ' Ἀφροδίτηι) a mixture of the routs (the elements) in order to create the mortals. Simplicius correctly observes at this place that it is Harmonia that is employed by Empedocles as an epithet for one of his moving powers, Love. The two next fragments show this clearly. The fragment 92 (27 DK) says: οὕτως Ἁρμονίης πυκινῶι κρύφωι ἐστήρικται Σφαῖρος κυκλοτερὴς 13 μονίηι περιηγέι γαίων. Nothing individual can be discerned within the Sphere. Harmony has made her work perfectly – she has joined the elements with the strong bonds of love. Admittedly the Sphere is a three-dimensional body, but what is previously observed in the case of a wheel is still valid: what is important are the inner joints, which constitute the nature of the Sphere and allows it at the end of Love's period to find peace, stability and steadiness. A further confirmation of the idea is found in the fragment 462 (96 DK). Describing the proportion, according to which the nature of Sphere is set up, Empedocles says that the elements are connected by the divine glue of Harmony – Ἁρμονίης κόλληισιν ἀρηρότα θεσπεσίηθεν. Reinforcing Ἁρμονίη by ἀραρίσκω (fitting together, fastening), he wanted to emphasize the importance and power of the inner joint. The word glue refers to a certain craft as, for example, the fitting-together of two parts of a bronze statue by means of cold welding, or tanning work. M. Wright notes that under glue Empedocles could mean the joining power of water, as confirmed by the fragment 454 (В 73) cited above. The allegory of earth as a cauldron occurs later in the same Fr. 462 (96 DK): ἡ δὲ χθὼν ἐπίηρος ἐν εὐστέρνοις χοάνοισι τὼ δύο τῶν ὀκτὼ μερέων λάχε Νήστιδος αἴγλης, 12 «And as, at that time, when Kypris was busily producing forms, she moistened earth in water and gave it to swift fire to harden» (Wright 1981, 222). 13 This phrase can literary mean «by round straitened Sphere», or surrounded in the sense of bounded. One can read it also as «the limited Sphere», i. e. not widening, but kept in the same limits, always having one size.

τέσσαρα δ' Ἡφαίστοιο· τὰ δ' ὀστέα λευκὰ γένοντο Ἁρμονίης κόλληισιν ἀρηρότα θεσπεσίηθεν. One notes that bronze molding technique, invented at the beginning of the seventh century BCE, has reached by the fifth century a considerable degree of sophistication. We can remember the famous statue of Poseidon (or Zeus) from the Artemision cape. This is a rare example preserved until our days (see Fig. 21), although in Antiquity many statues were made from bronze and subsequently became models for marble copies. The next couple of fragments have the casting craft at their background. Fr. 201(35 DK): τῶν δέ τε μισγομένων χεῖτ' ἔθνεα μυρία θνητῶν, παντοίαις ἰδέηισιν ἀρηρότα, θαῦμα ἰδέσθαι. Indeed the verb χέω means here “bronze molding, melting” (Liddell-Scott-Jones: smelt metal, cast, of bronze statues). In Fr. 231 (22 DK) we read: ἐχθρὰ <δ' ἃ> πλεῖστον ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διέχουσι μάλιστα γέννηι τε κρήσει τε καὶ εἴδεσιν ἐκμάκτοισι. The word ἔκμακτος (from ἐκμάσσω) also clearly points towards bronze casting technique. Probably Empedocles used this word intentionally and his listeners understood the reference. Creating the mortals in the period of its predominance, Love who, as we remarked, is “Harmony”, itself joins all those parts that wander about, and her tools are again glue, pegs, and different casting forms. If we now recollect that, as Ilievski has shown, in the Mycenaean period the word a-to-mo/arthmos/ meant the guild of craftsmen (blacksmiths),14 it will be quite natural to assume that these numerous technical metaphors go all the way back to that period. And last but not least, Fr. 64 (23 DK): ὡς δ' ὁπόταν γραφέες ἀναθήματα ποικίλλωσιν ἀνέρες ἀμφὶ τέχνης ὑπὸ μήτιος εὖ δεδαῶτε, οἵτ' ἐπεὶ οὖν μάρψωσι πολύχροα φάρμακα χερσίν, ἁρμονίηι μείξαντε τὰ μὲν πλέω, ἄλλα δ' ἐλάσσω, ἐκ τῶν εἴδεα πᾶσιν ἀλίγκια πορσύνουσι. Here harmonia means “proportion”. It is possible that this is the first case of such a usage. Proportion is mentioned also in the fragment 462 (96 DK) where “the kindly earth received into its broad hollows of the eight parts two of the brightness of Nestis and four of Hephaestos”. Since only three elements are mentioned: earth, water 15 and fire, the ancient commentators of Aristotle, John Philoponus and Simplicius postulated here a Pythagorean influence and tried to substitute the missing 14 Ilievski 1993, p. 24. The LSJ gives for Nestis a single meaning: ὕδωρ (c.v).

element, air, without which the structure of proportion is not complete, with αἴγλης (the brightness). One wonders however whether all four elements were so important for Empedocles? M. Wright writes: “Empedocle's achievement is in the understanding of the principle of proportion of elements in the formation of organisms, rather than in any sophistication in principle's development”,16 and he is right, since Empedocles does not mention all the elements simultaneously and, even if he does, their role in the process of creation may be unequal, as in the fragment 461 (98 DK). One last note: explaining the way how such an incredible a variety of living beings can come into existence from only four elements, Empedocles emphasizes the importance of the right mixture (not all living beings deserve to live and could survive),17 and the process described refers to the skill of color mixing (fr. 64 (23 DK): ἁρμονίηι μείξαντε). Luckily for Empedocles, this fully corresponded with contemporary practice, since the painters of his day used only four color pigments – white, black, red and yellow. This was already observed by W. Kranz, who in his article “Die ältesten Farbenlehren der Griechen”18 suggested that “so wie der Maler durch Mischung seiner vier Farben die bunte Welt der Bilder hervorzaubert, so hat Göttin Harmonie aus den vier Elementen die Welt um uns entstehen lassen”.19 One step further one can assume that the medical theory of four bodily liquids could also be rooted in this idea.20 Mycenaean Greek exerted a considerable influence on the formation of the concept of harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmonia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing ancient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropriate, technical, context. As P. Ilievski has convincingly shown, the ancient Greek noun ἁρμονία and the verb ἁρμόζω derive from the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains the harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than visible connection, – a certain hidden and secret nature, – and he chooses lyre and bow because they symbolize the same innate connection which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Empedocles connects harmonia with Aphrodite – one of the creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term of harmonia from its technical to abstract meaning. 16 Wright 1981, 210. The idea to be sure is widespread in the later tradition. Cf., for instance, Theophrastus’ saying: “A particular skill is due to the μέση κρᾶσις in organ – the orator, who has a good mixture in his tongue, and the craftsman, who has one in his hands” (Sens. 10–11). 18 Kranz 1912. 19 Ibid, p. 128. 20 N. Koch has recently noted: “Tatsächlich liegt aber beiden Konzepten (i.e. Vierfarbtechnik und Vierheit von Körpersäften) nur dieselbe Wurzel zugrunde, nämlich die naturphilosophische Lehre von den vier Elementen” (2000, 206).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ilievski, P. Hr. (1993) «The Origin and Semantic Development of the Term Harmony», David Sansone, ed. Studies in Honor of Miroslav Marcovich. Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. XVIII. Hussey, E. (1995) The Presocratics. London. Kahn, Ch. H. (1979) The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: A New Arrangement and Translation of the Fragments with Literary and Philosophical Commentary. Cambridge. Kranz, W. (1912) «Die ältesten Farbenlehren der Griechen», Hermes 1912, 126–140. Koch, J. Nadja. (2000) Techne und Erfindung in der klassischen Malerei. Eine terminologische Untersuchung. München. Landels, J. G. (2002) Music in Ancient Greece and Rome. London / New York. Marcovich, M. (20012) Heraclitus: Greek Text with a Short Commentary. Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag. Wright, M. R. (1981) Empedocles: The Extant Fragments. New Haven / London.