Martianus Capella
The Marriage of Philology and Mercury

/345/

Book IX
Harmony

→ lat [889] Thus Venus spoke and, lying backward, leaned into the embrace of Pleasure, who was standing by her.³ All the earth and sea gods approved her remarks, and several of the heavenly gods as well; in particular, Venus’ husband, Mulcibcr of Lemnos [Vulcan], /346/ master of so many crafts, was quick to offer commendation. Then, as she reclined gracefully, and her relaxed attitude added to her charm, Mars gave her a tender and admiring glance from afar, and in a faltering and feeble voice he too commended her,⁴ and then was seen to draw a deep breath. Bacchus was not to be outdone in the graciousness of his compliments. Atlas’s descendant [Mercury], in truth, was so overcome by passionate desire for Venus that he wanted to leave off the elegant preparations which he had arranged for the ceremony. Such attentions were never displeasing to Venus.

→ lat [890] But the father of the gods had been advised by his sister⁵ to hasten the proceedings. Nevertheless, so as not to scrimp the wedding preparations or dispense with the performance of so erudite a lady, pleasant as it would be to speed the marriage, Jupiter refused to be rushed: he asked how many bridesmaids remained to be heard from. → lat [891] The Delian [Apollo] suggested that Medicine and Architecture were standing by, among those who had been prepared to perform. “But since these ladies are concerned with mortal subjects and their skill lies in mundane matters, and they have nothing in common with the celestial deities, it will not be inappropriate to disdain and reject them. They will keep silent in the heirvenly company and will be examined in detail later by the maiden herself. But it would be a grave offense to exclude from this company the one bridesmaid who is the particular darling of the heavens,⁶ whose performance is sought with joy and acclamation.

→ lat [892] “But first of all I would like to inform you that the mother of the maiden has brought along other young women, endowed with lavish gifts, to be added to the dowry;⁷ she has agreed to submit them to that test of knowledge. These young women are of the same number and are equally attractive, and in the impressiveness of their erudition few of the maidens standing by them are on a par with them.⁸ They have been instructed in the more mystic and holy /347/ secrets of the maiden. With what displeasure or with what delight or weakness on the part of the celestial senate these girls would be passed over, I leave it to you, in the strength and majesty of your judgment, O Jove, to decide.”

→ lat [893] To this the Tritonian [Minerva] replied: “To be sure, the maidens whom Phronesis has reared have zealously guarded the secrets privy to divinities, nor did any of you fail to entrust to them the interpretation of your hidden desires. Besides, several of them profess to be priestesses of the gods, and they avow that it is an impious deed to offer sacrifices to the holy divinities on earth except through them, and that a favorable outcome under such circumstances is surely denied. The maidens who have appeared have given a remarkable demonstration of their ancient learning; these maidens bear testimonials of your intimate relationship with mortals; for, in the cleavage that exists between the divine and mortal realms, they alone have always maintained communication between the two. → lat [894] You will recognize them when they enter, and you will put them to the test, O gods.”

In the course of this conversation between the Delian and Pallas, someone asked the names of the maidens. Phoebus then answered: “The first to appear will be Genethliace.⁹ She shares in the knowledge of the heavenly order and covertly declares the lots of Lachesis and the things to be produced in approaching ages. Next will come Symbolice,¹⁰ who compares future events with prognostications, and reconciles the conclusion of omens with happenings. The third maiden will be Oeonistice,¹¹ through whom the tripod declares those future events and every oracular cauldron has given clear responses. Furthermore, as evidence of their foreknowledge the crow is suggestive of me and the swan is associated with me, for the color of their plumage, which corresponds to the nighttime and the daytime, indicates that we get our premonitions of events of day and night from the birds. The tripod itself offers the divinations of the triple time sequence – present, future, and past. → lat [895] Next will come the triple sisterhood, always bowed in prayer, who, by assuring mortals of your generally favorable decisions, first induced their wavering minds to hope for divine aid, and brought a nation /348/ that was in need of your protection into religious worship. Who of us would refuse to grant this sisterhood an opportunity to perform in heaven, whether this is a threefold female or three sisters acting under one name, when it is undeniable that we move freely upon earth through their intercession? → lat [896] After them a beautiful maiden will appear, radiant in celestial light, who has been approved and designated by you, Jupiter, as your messenger. It is stoutly maintained, Father, that you have entrusted to her your lightning and thunderbolts and the flashes of triple-tongued light. She is familiar with the paths, tracks, approach, and outcome of omens that travel as fire. Are you going to deny a hearing to this woman through whom the warnings of your decrees become known to mortals? Why, then, best Father, do you not introduce these maidens forthwith and put them to the test?”

→ lat [897] After Latona’s son [Apollo] had spoken thus, Jupiter ordered Harmony to appear, as it was suggested to him, the last of the learned handmaids that remained. The other maidens he then ordered to form into line. At this point Luna, reminded by the two parts of the day that had passed, spoke up: “Straightway I shall be able to examine with vou the maiden who is about to enter, but with nightfall approaching I shall not be able to allot time to the maidens who follow. Indeed, I still have to traverse Plaustrum [the Wain] and Taurus and the downward course of the sky, and the goal of my celestial course does not permit me to listen to the discourse of the other maidens. And, I confess, I would like to learn the doctrines of such celebrated erudition if there is authority to defer the examination of the maidens, especially since a postponement until the day after tomorrow is a reasonable delay; thus might tedium and distaste, occasioned by the fatigue of learning and the effort of concentration, not preclude all discourses of a subtle nature; and the keenness required for seeking and demonstrating knowledge not be blunted and turned into an aversion by complexity and prolixity. I consider it fitting to defer such discourses until the audience is wide awake and thirsting to hear.”

→ lat [898] As Luna was making these remarks, all the gods gave their hearty approval. Then the question was raised whether a recompense could be offered, and whether the day for bestowing the dowry could be postponed according to the public law. At this suggestion, /349/ that cryptic authority on ancient law¹² was besought by the entreaties of his numerous descendants; and he replied that, according to custom, once the couple had been joined in marriage, there was no statutory objection to the wife’s constituting the dowry for her husband.¹³ Then Jupiter, prompted by the expert knowledge of his father, said: “My children,¹⁴ I have reason for rejoicing, since whatever I know you are wishing for, is pronounced to be lawful. I shall not avoid the issue, inflexible and prideful in my estate, nor shall I be reluctant, under pretense of sloth and indifference, to hasten your plan or to test the skills of the learned maidens, since they, who have been summarily expelled from the earth, ought to find a place among the stars.

→ lat [899] “Now, therefore, let us give audience to that most eminent of ladies, Harmony, who is the last of Mercury’s maidens to be heard. She indeed, above all others, will be able to soothe the cares of the gods, gladdening the heavens with her song and rhythms; and she desires only to make our palaces resound, detesting the ever-increasing dullness and spiritlessness of the earthborn, resulting from their lack of skill in melic verse. Having long since taken her departure from earth, Harmony has rejected mortals and their desolated academies; and now, barely overtaken by the Cyllenian [Mercury] in eager pursuit, she is being brought back after a long period of oblivion from her remote hiding place. → lat [900] It will be both a pleasure and a profit to listen to this maiden, rediscovered after so many generations and restored to the melic arts. But the other learned and reverend sisters, when another day has dawned, will be introduced and given a thorough examination.”

→ lat [901] Prompted by these remarks of Jove, Phoebus stepped outside in order to introduce the maiden, who was especially appropriate to him. The Paphian [Venus], startled by the warm reception for her returning daughter, gave a sign to Hymen to begin the wedding song. And he, brightening up, with animated spirit and with an approving nod from the Tritonian thus began:

→ lat [904] While Hymen, in a sportive mood appropriate to the occasion, was singing this hymn repeatedly and for some length of time, thinking that he had brought pleasure to the gods, a large company of bystanders followed the Tritonian and Dione out of the hall. In the excitement over the return of Harmony, a throng quickly gathered. A crowd of maidens who had followed after the goddesses and were standing close by them, and of heroes, under orders to be present, bustled in expectation; the former to learn the theme of the songs, the latter to confirm their recollection of Harmony’s features.

→ lat [905] Immediately a sweet new sound burst forth, like the strains /351/ of auloi;¹⁷ and echoing melodies, surpassing the delight of all sounds, filled the ears of the enchanted Gods. For the sound was not a simple one, monotonously produced from one instrument, but a blending of all instrumental sounds creating a full symphony of delectable music. As this melody soothed the breasts of the mortal bystanders and the gods for some time, the throngs of those who had gone out a little while earlier, anticipating the arrival of the maiden, were seen again in the van, walking ahead of the vast retinue. But their return was not unaccompanied by sweet and melodious sounds. For Eratine, daughter of the Cyprian, and Himeros, attendant of Cupid, and Tcrpsis, one of the household servants of Dione, were the first to enter, singing in pleasing harmony; but the lad¹⁸ was → lat [906] playing on a single aulos. Next came Persuasion, Pleasure, and the Graces, singing to the accompaniment of a lyre and dancing hither and thither with the rhythmic beat. At the same time companies of heroes and of philosophers with flowing locks were moving along in the van, to the left and the right, all chanting in soft and sweet tones, many of them singing hymns and praises of the gods, others singing melodies they had just learned. In the middle were some rustic and tuneful demigods, playing on appropriate instruments, the Goat-Footed one [Pan] on a pandura,¹⁹ Silvanus on a reed pipe smoothed of knots, and Faunus on a rustic flute. A company of heroes that followed after, attracted great wonder and surprise; for Orpheus, Amphion, and Arion, most skillful musicians, were harmoniously playing a moving melody on their golden lyres.

After them the even more honored chorus of fount-sprung maidens [the Muses] poured forth the nectar of Pierian song; accompanied by the twin pipes of the Phrygian,²² they surpassed all the sweetness of the delights that had gone before.

→ lat [909] Harmony walked along between Phoebus and Pallas, a lofty figure, whose melodious head was adorned with ornaments of glittering gold. Her garment was stiff with incised and laminated gold and it tinkled softly and soothingly with every measured step and movement of her body. Her radiant mother the Paphian – who followed her closely – though she too moved with graceful measure and balanced steps, could scarcely match the gait of her daughter. In her right hand Harmony bore what appeared to be a shield, circular over-all, with many inner circles, the whole interwoven with remarkable /353/ configurations. The encompassing circles of this shield were attuned to each other, and from the circular chords there poured forth a concord of all the modes. From her left hand the maiden held, suspended at equal length, several small models of theatrical instruments,²³ wrought of gold. → lat [910] No lyre or lute or tetrachord appeared on that circular shield, yet the strains coming from that strange rounded form surpassed those of all musical instruments. As soon as she entered the hall, a symphony swelled from the shield. All other music – which, by contrast with its sweetness, sounded dissonant – now became silent. Then Jupiter and the other heavenly beings, recognizing the grandeur of the more exalted melodies, which were pouring forth in honor of a certain secret fire and inextinguishable flame, reverenced the profound ancestral song, and one by one arose in homage to extramundane intelligence.²⁴

→ lat [911] Concluding this stirring symphony,²⁵ impossible to describe, Harmony turned to Jove and, lending her voice to a new melody and meter, began the following hymn:

→ lat [920] Harmony’s songs delighted and soothed the spirits of all the gods; and the strains that poured forth from her stringed instruments were no less sweet than the melody of her voice. Hereupon a discussion ensued, to which Jupiter listened with admiration, regarding the pains and labor involved in the production of that music and the effort and unabated concentration that must have gone into the mastery and attainment of harmonies so soft and caressing as to enthrall the innermost emotions of their hearts. Then, when Harmony’ perceived that those present were seeking the precepts of her art by way of putting her learning to test, refraining somewhat from songs and with encouragement from the Delian and Pallas, she thus began her discourse.

→ lat [921] “A loathsome and detestable creature to earthborn mortals,³⁷ I have been striking against the star-studded heavenly spheres, where I am forbidden to discourse on the precepts of my art – this despite the fact that the swirling celestial mechanism, in the swiftness of its motion, produces a harmony which it recognizes as concordant with the gamut of all proportions. But inasmuch as a maiden has risen up from the earth who is about to be wed, it behooves me now with my celestial powers to dispel the darkness, which is beginning to lift after a long intermission. I shall run through my precepts in accordance with vour request, if you will first permit me to call to your attention the boons accruing to ungrateful mankind from the know ledge that is being restored.

→ lat [922] From the time that the limitless universe of the ineffable Creator begot me as the twin sister of heaven, I have not forsaken /357/ numbers;³⁸ I followed the courses of the sidereal spheres and the whirling motion of the entire mass, assigning tones to the swiftly moving celestial bodies. But when the Monad³⁹ and first hypostasis of intellectual light was conveying to earthly habitations souls that emanated from their original source, I was ordered to descend with them to be their governess. It was I who designated the numerical ratios of perceptible motions and the impulses of perfect will, introducing restraint and harmony into all things, → lat [923] a subject which Theophrastus elaborated upon as a universal law for all mankind. The Pythagoreans too assuaged the ferocity of men’s spirits with pipes and strings and taught that there is a firmly binding relationship between souls and bodies. → lat [924] I deigned to have numbers underlie the limbs of human bodies,⁴⁰ a fact to which Aris-toxenus and Pythagoras attest. At last, with a generous outpouring of my favor, I revealed the concepts of my art to men, in a manner which they could understand. For I demonstrated the use of stringed instruments at Delphi, through the Delian’s cithara; flutes were blown by my companion the Tritonian and by the Lydian Marsyas; the Mariandynians and Aonians blew upon reed pipes their hymns to the heavenly deities; I permitted the Egyptians to try their skill with the pandura; and I did not deny myself to shepherds imitating on their pipes the calls of birds or the rustling of trees or the gurgling of rivers. I invented the art of cithara players, of players on stringed instruments, on sambukes, and on water organs⁴¹ throughout the world, for the benefit of lowly mankind. → lat [925] Through me, in fact, men have inveigled the support of you deities and have quelled the anger of the underworld deities through mournful songs.

And were not military campaigns and victories in all parts of the world accomplished through my songs? The Cretans used to engage the enemy to the strains of the cithara; the Lacedaemonians, /358/ to the sound of the aulos – the latter would not advance to the test of battle until they had made propitious sacrifice to the Muses. And did not the Amazons make a practice of brandishing their weapons to the tune of reed pipes? One of these women,⁴² who had come to Alexander in the hope of conceiving by him, when she greeted him, was given a flute and went away as elated as if she had received a great gift. Is anyone unaware that the Spartans in Greece and the Sybarites in Italy are led into battle by aulos players? It has recently been learned that trumpets rouse the spirits of prancing steeds and battle [sic] and also sharpen the keen edge of wrestlers and other competitors in public games.

→ lat [926] And were not peacetime functions performed to the accompaniment of my songs? In many Greek cities, laws and public decrees were recited to the strains of a lyre. I have frequently recited chants that have had a therapeutic effect upon deranged minds and ailing bodies; I have restored the mad to health through consonance, a treatment which the physician Asclepiades learned from me. When an unruly mob of the common people were raging at the city fathers as they were deliberating, the sound of music that rose above their obstreperous clamor held them in check. Some young men in a drunken condition who were behaving in a rowdy manner were brought to their senses by the musicianship of Damon, one of my disciples. He ordered them to sing some spondaic measures to the accompaniment of a flute, and brought their noisy brawling to an abrupt halt. Have not I myself brought healing to diseased bodies by prolonged therapy? The ancients were able to cure fever and wounds by incantation. Asclepiades healed with the trumpet patients who were stone deaf, and Theophrastus used the flute with mentally disturbed patients. Is anyone unaware that gout in the hip is removed by the sweet tones of the aulos? Xenocrates cured insane patients by playing on musical instruments. Thales of Crete is known to have dispelled diseases and pestilence by the sweetness of his cithara playing. Herophilus checked the pulse of his patients by comparing rhythms.⁴³

→ lat [927] The Thracian lyre player⁴⁴ was one who demonstrated that animals are sensitive to my songs and are drawn to follow /359/ directly. In this case it was not a myth but actual fact that established his reputation. How is it that stags are caught through the use of shepherds’ pipes, that clattering sounds cause fish to stop swimming in the stagnant pools⁴⁵ of Alexandria, and that the melodious strains of a cithara attract Hyperborean swans? It is a fact that Indian elephants are restrained by the soothing effects of musical instruments; it is also common knowledge that birds are attracted by reed pipes and that rattles pacify crying infants; and stringed instruments have won dolphins over to the friendship of man. → lat [928] It is even reported that cobras are charmed by music and their bodies burst asunder from the effect, and that trees and crops move from place to place. And is it not a fact that spirits are exorcised and that the moon suffers eclipses from the use of that age-old expedient? In Lydia there are said to be isles of nymphs which Varro, the most recent reporter,⁴⁶ claims to have observed floating off from the mainland at the first strains of flutes, out to the middle of a lake and then round about and back again to the main land. → lat [929] Along the shore at Actium the sea has a sound like that of a cithara. In Megaris there is a rock that produces musical sounds when anyone strikes it.⁴⁷ I could mention countless benefactions that I have given to mankind to show you that I did not leave the earth merely because of a desire to get away, but because I was justified in censuring ungrateful mankind for their apathetic attitude. But now I shall plunge into the precepts of my discipline, to bestow upon the bride-to-be the gift I have promised her.

→ lat [930] Since my province comprises the knowledge of the proper regulation of measures applying to both rhythmic and melodic compositions, I shall first discuss melodic composition. I maintain that whatever sounds strike the car in the right proportion form either a whole tone, a half tone, or a quarter tone, the last being called diesis. A whole tone is an interval of appropriate size that lies between two mutually different sounds. The interval which /360/ amounts to half a tone is called a semitone. But there are three sizes of diesis. The first one, the smallest in size, is called tetartemoria by reason of the fact that it represents a ‘fourth part’ of a whole tone; it is also called the enharmonic interval, because it is a basic step in constructing the enharmonic genus of melody.⁴⁸ The second size of diesis is a larger interval, called tritemoria, because it consists of a ‘third part’ of a tone; it is also called the chromatic interval, because it is the basis of the chromatic genus of melody.⁴⁹ The third size consists of a quarter tone and a half part of a quarter tone, and is called the hemiolia of the enharmonic division, since it fills out the hemiolic mode.

→ lat [931] Tone (tonus) and sound (sonus) are generally interchangeable terms. In each and every mode there are 18 tones. The first of these is called the proslambanomenos in Greek; the Romans call it the adquisitus [added tone]. The second tone is the hypate hypaton, or principalis principalium [lowest tone of the lowest tetrachord].⁵⁰ The third tone is the parhypate hypaton, or sub-principalis principalium [next to the lowest tone of the lowest tetrachord]. The fourth is the hypaton diatonos,⁵¹ or principalium extents [extended tone of the lowest tetrachord]. The fifth is the hypate meson, or principalis mediarum [lowest tone of the tetrachord of the middle]. The sixth is the parhypate meson, or sub-principalis mediarum [next to the lowest tone of the tetrachord of the middle]. The seventh is the meson diatonos, or mediarum extents [extended tone of the tetrachord of the middle]. The eighth is the mese, or media [middle tone]. The ninth is the trite synemmenon, or tertia coniunctarum [third tone of the conjunct tetrachord]. The tenth is the synemmenon diatonos, or coniunctarum extents [extended tone of the conjunct tetrachord]. The eleventh /361/ is the nete synemmenon, or ultima coniunctarum [highest tone of the conjunct tetrachord]. The twelfth is the paramese, or prope media [tone next to the middle tone]. The thirteenth is the trite diezeugmenon, or tertia divisarum [third tone of the disjunct tetrachord]. The fourteenth is the diezeugmenon diatonos, or divisarum extenta [extended tone of the disjunct tetrachord]. The fifteenth is the nete diezeugmenon, or ultima divisarum [highest tone of the disjunct tetrachord]. The sixteenth is the trite hyperbolaion, or tertia excellentium [third tone of the highest tetrachord]. The seventeenth is the hyperbolaion diatonos, or excellentium extenta [extended tone of the highest tetrachord]. And the eighteenth is the nete hyperbolaion, or ultima excellentium [highest tone of the highest tetrachord]. These, then, are the tones that are comprised in a properly proportioned musical system.⁵²

→ lat [932] Moreover, all musical movement (modulation consists of lower- or higher-pitched tones. A low pitch has a soothing effect because of the slackening of its sound; a high pitch, on the other hand, is due to the tightening and raising of the music to a thin and shrill sound.

→ lat [933] Among the aforementioned tones which rightly occur in each and every mode, there are three consonances (symphoniae). The first of these is the diatessaron, in Latin called ex quattuor [from the four].⁵³ It consists of four notes, three steps, and two and a half productiones. (By productio I mean a whole tone.⁵⁴) It also consists of five semitones, which are equivalent to two and a half whole tones, or of ten dieses; but I am referring to the diesis which, as I noted above, is a quarter tone. This consonance is in the epitritic ratio. The epitrite is the ratio of the number three and a number one third greater – that is, 4 to 3.

→ lat [934] The second consonance is the quinaria [fifth], called in Greek diapente. It consists of five notes which are separated by four steps. It has three and a half productiones; that is, three and a half whole tones, or seven semitones, or fourteen dieses. It has the hemiolic ratio; that is, of a number and another number half again as great, as the ratio of three to two. The third consonance is that of the diapason, in Latin ex omnibus [through the entirety]. It has /362/ eight notes, seven steps, six whole tones, twelve semitones, and twenty-four dieses, and is based upon the diplasic ratio; that is, the double.

→ lat [935] There are fifteen tropi [octave species]:⁵⁵ five principal ones, and a pair of tropi attached to each of them. There is the Lydian, with which the hypolydian and the hyperlydian are conjoined; the Ionian, with which the hypoionian and the hypcrionian are conjoined; the Aeolian, and with it the hypoaeolian and the hyperaeolian; the Phrygian, and with it the hypophrygian and the hyperphrygian; and the Dorian, with the hypodorian and the hyperdorian.

A certain compatibility or kinship exists among these tropi, drawing them to each other, as in the case of the kinship between the hypodorian and the hypophrygian, or between the hypoionian and the hypoaeolian. Likewise there is a compatible relationship between the hypophrygian and the hypolydian. These are the only pairs that are joined together. The middle tone (media) of the lower tropus becomes the proslambanomenos of the higher tropus.

Each of these tropi, moreover, comprises five tetrachords. A tetrachord is a pleasing relationship of four tones arranged in order, in which the two bounding tones are consonant. But more of this later. Let us return to our original order of dealing with the fundamental topics. These preliminary remarks have been introduced in order to make the ensuing discussion more intelligible.⁵⁶

→ lat [936] When Lasus, a man from the city of Hermione,⁵⁷ first taught the principles of harmony to mortal men, only three aspects were recognized: hylikon [subject matter], apergastikon [practice], and exangeltikon [exposition], also called hermeneutikon. Hylikon refers to things that sound together in a continuous and similar manner – /363/ melody, measures, and words: those that pertain to melody are called harmonics; those that pertain to measures, rhythmics; and those that pertain to words, metrics. Apergastikon has to do with the handling and exercise of the materials of the above subjects: it likewise is subdivided into three parts: melopoeia [musical composition], lēpsis [choice of pitch], and plokē [relation of pitches]. Exangeltikon is seen to refer to exposition, and it has three divisions: organikon [instrumental music], odikon [vocal music], and hypokritikon [recitation]. Each of these will be explained later in its appropriate place.⁵⁸ Let us now deal with the voice as the parent of all sound, so to speak. → lat [937] All voice production is divided into two categories: continuous and discrete. The continuous is found in flowing conversation; the discrete is used in music. There is an intermediate form, having elements of both; for it neither adheres strictly to the continuous variation of the one nor is discretely varied in modulation like the other. It is the form which is used in the recitation of all poetry.⁵⁹ The form that is subject to precise variations is called diastematica and is appropriate to the branch called harmonics.

→ lat [938] The subject of harmonics has seven aspects: tones (soni), intervals, systems, genera, keys (tonoi), changes of system, and melody construction (melopoeia). ⁶⁰

First, about tones, which are the basic elements of my discipline. → lat [939] The tone has the same significance for us that the point has for geometers and the unit for arithmeticians. We also call tones phthongi; but the term phthongus refers to a particular musical production of the voice effected through a corresponding tension. Tension, called tasis in Greek, is what causes voice to be produced and to continue. The term phthongus is applied both specifically and generally. For general applications the word itself is used; for /364/ specific applications the Greek word idiaitata is used. If we should consider how this term ought to be defined, the pronunciation of the word phthongus itself serves as an example of the raising and lowering of the pitch of the voice.

→ lat [940] Now in the case of tones, some terms are active and some are passive. Tension and relaxation are active; highness and lowness of pitch are passive. Productio – that is, epitasis – is the movement of the voice from a lower to a higher pitch; anesis is the opposite, for here the voice descends from a high pitch to some low and grave pitch. Deepness of tone is produced when the breath is drawn from deep within; sharpness of tone is produced from the forepart of the mouth.

The varieties of tone are countless, but in our special sense of the word there are only twenty-eight appropriate tones in each of the tropi. I have mentioned their names above.⁶¹ → lat [941] The first of these is the adquisitus [added tone]; it gets its name from the fact that it harmonizes with none of the tetrachords but is, as it were, an extraneous addition taken on because of its relationship with the mese, with which it is consonant.⁶² This adquisitus is separated from the principalis principalium [hypate hypaton] by a whole tone. The principalis principalium is so-called because it has the first position in the [first] tetrachord and is, as it were, a ‘ruler.’⁶³ Next the sub-principalis gets its name from its position directly beneath⁶⁴ the principalis. → lat [942] In the principal tetrachord the enharmonic and chromatic (our Latin term colorabile is perhaps hard to justify; the term is derived from the fact that whatever lies between the principal colors, white and black, is designated by the Greek term for colorable [chromatike]) – I repeat, the enharmonic, chromatic – and diatonic genera (we call the diatonic the ‘extended’) are terms that indicate the changes of systems.⁶⁵ Indeed, several varieties of /365/ tetrachords are formed. The principalis mediarum [hypate meson] is so called because it is the highest tone of the tetrachord of the middle; the tone directly below it is called subprincipalis mediarum.⁶⁶ The three remaining tones correspond to those in the principal tetrachord. The ‘tetrachord of the middle’ gets its name from the fact that it is located between the highest tetrachord and the conjunct tetrachord.

→ lat [943] The tone that follows the two aforementioned tetrachords is called media [Gr. mese, ‘middle’]. This name is given to it because it is both the last tone of the lower tetrachord and the first tone of the next higher tetrachord in all modes. Both the lower and the higher are joined by the bond of the identical tone – which, in the case of the Lydian mode, has the symbol of an upright letter iota. One semitone step beyond the media is the tertia coniunctarum [third tone of the conjunct tetrachord] – which, in the same mode, namely the Lydian, has as its symbol a supine lambda. Next after this come [those three notes which have been mentioned above: the enharmonic, the chromatic, and the diatonic],⁶⁷ also known as the paranete, or in Latin paene ultima [next to the last]. Following this comes the ultima [nete synemmenon], which is called the ‘last of the conjunct tetrachord’ because it marks the end of this tetrachord. This tetrachord is called ‘conjunct’ because it is conjoined to the media itself, which is the first tone to complete a perfect consonance.⁶⁸ Advancing beyond the media, the following tone is called the paramese [next or counter to the middle], because the tone of the adjacent note is discordant with this neighboring note. → lat [944] Next comes the tertia divisarum, which completes the full system of the diapason; hence it is called the ‘third tone of the /366/ disjunct tetrachord.’ After this the other tones follow in order. The name ‘disjunct tetrachord’ is explained by the fact that it is separated from the bounding media by one and a half tones. After this comes the ‘tetrachord of the high-pitched tones,’ so called because in each of the modes the tone is raised to a high pitch and reaches its culmination in each of the modulations (in singulis modulationibus).

→ lat [945] Of these tones or phthongi, some are necessarily firmly fixed and continuous, others are movable; some are called barypyknoi, others mesopyknoi, still others oxypyknoi, and still others apyknoi. Three groups of tones have a certain compact quality which is referred to as spissum [crowded or compact].⁶⁹ The barypyknoi are compactly clustered tones that occupy the low ranges of each tetrachord; the mesopyknoi occupy the middle ranges; and the oxypyknoi occupv the upper ranges. The apyknoi stand in the place of the three compact groups of tones, but are not joined together by any genus or rule.

→ lat [946] Fixed and continuous tones are called either apyknoi or barypyknoi. These take on a certain species and form, as it were, of the principal notes; consequently, some authorities refer to them as stationary (statarii), for they are unable to undergo extensions or changes.

The other type are called ‘movable’ and ‘wandering,’ because they admit sometimes larger and sometimes smaller steps. Of these, some are called parkypatoeides [like that next to the lowest], and others lichanoeides [like the index-finger note]. The former get their name because they lie immediately beneath the first note of the highest tetrachord.⁷⁰ The lichanoeides get their name from the finger which moves as the servant of the art to each musical sound – namely, the finger next to the thumb [lichanos].

→ lat [947] Some of these tones produce concords, others are dissonant and jarring. Those that are consonant are called symphonoi; those that are dissonant when struck are called diaphonoi. Those that /367/ have a different designation of tone, but the same pitch, are called homophonoi.⁷¹

There are still other aspects to tones. The first is according to tension, resulting in a difference between high and low pitch. The second is according to the interval between them when tones are conjoined over one or more steps. The third is according to the conjunction of systems, when a tone belongs to one or more systems...⁷² the fifth is according to ethos; high-pitched tones indicate one hind of ethos, low-pitched tones another.⁷³

→ lat [948] Now we must discuss the diastem. A diastem is an interval of sound which is determined by a higher-pitched and a lower-pitched tone. Among the diastems there are some smaller intervals, which are found in the enharmonic diesis; and there are larger ones, which double each interval in the octave, the largest interval that can be found in the modes. → lat [949] Among the intervals some are composite, others are incomposite and asynthetic. Incomposite intervals⁷⁴ are those which run consecutively; composite intervals represent combinations of intervals that vary from each other. Some intervals are rational, others are irrational. Those are rational whose combinations, when sounding together, we can represent as proportional; those are irrational which do not have a numerical ratio underlying them. Some intervals are consonant, others dissonant. Some are enharmonic, others chromatic, and still others diatonic. Some are even, others are excessive or odd. I shall first mention even intervals and then excessive intervals. Those are even which can be divided into equal parts, as a tone into two semitones [i.e. parts]; those are odd or excessive which are divided into three semitones.⁷⁵

→ lat [950] Some intervals are crowded, others are more extended. The crowded ones are held together by dieses, the more extended are /368/ held together by tones. Among these, some are consonant, others dissonant; and the number of dissonant intervals is very great. The consonant intervals in each mode are six in number: the diatessaron, which we call de quattuor [the fourth]; the diapente, or de quinque [the fifth]; next the diapason [octave], which is a consonance ‘throughout the whole’ tonal space. Other intervals are consonant that consist of an octave and a fourth, an octave and a fifth, and a double octave, which is called the disdiapason.

→ lat [951] The interval of the diatessaron – that is, the fourth – has four notes, three steps, two and a half tones, five semitones, and ten dieses or quarter tones. It is in the epitritic ratio, as 4 is to 3. The diapente – that is, the fifth – has five notes, four steps, three and a half tones, 7 semitones, and 14 quarter tones. It is in the hemiolic ratio, which is as 3 is to 2. The diapason has eight notes, seven steps, six tones, twice as many semitones, and four times as many quarter tones. It is said to be in the duple ratio (in diplasia ratione); that is, as one is to two. → lat [952] The interval of the octave and a fourth consists of eleven notes, ten steps, eight and a half tones, twice as many semitones, and four times as many dieses. It is in the diplasiepidimoirus ratio, which is as 8 is to 3. The interval of the octave and a fifth has twelve notes, eleven steps, nine and a half tones, twice as many semitones, and four times as many dieses. It is in the triple (triplasia) ratio, as four is to twelve. → lat [953] The interval called the disdiapason has 15 notes, fourteen steps, twelve tones, twenty-four semitones, and 48 dieses. It is in the quadruple (tetraplasius) ratio, as 12 is to 3. The whole tone is in the epogdous ratio.⁷⁶ Everywhere in the enharmonic genus we are obliged to admit the diesis, which is one quarter of a tone.

→ lat [954] Now we must explain what a system is. A system is a multitude of tones arising from the several modes. It contains many kinds of subdivisions, but I pass over this subject because I have dealt with it in the discussion of intervals. There are in all eight absolute and perfect octave systems.⁷⁷ The first begins at the adquisitus,⁷⁸ which we call the proslambanomenos and is completed at the /369/ media, which we have called the mese. The second extends from the principalis principalium to the paramese; the third, from the subprincipalis principalium to the tertia divisarum; the fourth, from the extenta principalium to the divisarum diatonus; the fifth, from the principalis mediarum to the nete divisarum; the sixth, from the subprincipalis mediarum to the tertia exccllcntium; the seventh, from the mediarum extenta to the exccllcntium diatonus; and the eighth, from the media to the ultima exccllcntium.

→ lat [955] Next in order I shall briefly discuss the genera of tetrachords and of movement. A genus is defined as the division of tetrachords in a certain way. There are three genera of movement: enharmonic, chromatic, and diatonic.⁷⁹ [956] The enharmonic genus has the smallest steps and crowded notes; the diatonic is roomier and has whole tones; the chromatic consists of half tones. Just as whatever lies between black and white is called color, so the name chromatic is applied to the genus lying between the other two.

→ lat [957] Since the enharmonic is encompassed by fixed tones, it observes in ascending order a modulation by diesis, diesis, and incomposite ditone; in descending order the entire modulation is reversed. The chromatic receives its melody in ascending progression⁸⁰ in this way: by half tone, half tone, and three incomposite half tones; in descending progression the order is reversed. The diatonic, composed of whole tones, receives its modulation in ascending order through semitone, tone, tone (its full complement); and in descending the order is reversed. At present the diatonic genus is in greatest use.

→ lat [958] We modulate some diatonic genera by agōgē, others by plokē. Agōgē refers to tones progressing consecutively; plokē is the term used when tones progress diversely.⁸¹ Thus, in modulation one progression is called eutheia (that is, ‘straight,’ or ‘direct’); another is anakamptousa (that is, ‘bending backward’); still another is peripheries (that is, ‘surrounding’). Eutheia is a progression from /370/ a low to a high pitch; anakamptousa is the reverse; peripheres is the progression which accommodates itself to, or serves, both.⁸²

→ lat [959] Although the tetrachords, which we call quadrifidi [divided into four parts], have innumerable divisions, there are six familiar ones: one in the enharmonic genus; three in the chromatic, of which the first is soft and slack [malakos], the second hemiolic, the third tonic [high-pitched]; and two in the diatonic – one soft [flat], the other shrill [sharp, suntonos].⁸³ The enharmonic genus gets its modifications from the tetartemoria diesis; that is, a quarter part of a tone. The chromatic, which we called flattened, is produced by the tritemorici diesis.⁸⁴ The hemiolic chromatic is produced from the hemiolia diesis,⁸⁵ which belongs to the enharmonic genus.

→ lat [960] And now about tones. A tone is a magnitude of space. It is called a tone because the voice was the first of all sounds to be ‘stretched’ over this space;⁸⁶ that is, from a given note to another note, as from the media [mese] to the paramese; as, for example, in the Lydian genus, if the progression is from a note whose symbol is an upright iota to one whose symbol is a zeta or a supine pi.⁸⁷ Since I have explained what semitones and dieses are, their value and their nature, and have indicated the names and varieties of the octave species, we shall now take up the tetrachords.

Each octave species retains five tetrachords, as I have not failed to observe above. There is no doubt that the bounding notes of each tetrachord must be consonant. → lat [961] A tetrachord is a coherent and faithful concord of four sounds arranged in a sequence. Tetrachords are classified as follows: principal, middle, conjunct, disjunct, and extreme or highest. The first tetrachord, which is lowest in pitch, begins with the principalis principalium tone and ends wit /371/ the principalis mediarum...⁸⁸ but the binding connection between the principal and middle tetrachords is called the conjunct tetrachord, the tetrachord extending from the mese to the nete of the conjunct tetrachord. The fourth tetrachord, that of the disjuncts, is widely separated from these, and extends from the paramese to the nete of the disjunct tetrachord. In the various octave species this tetrachord is conjoined with the one next higher in pitch, and the fifth is referred to as the extreme or highest tetrachord. So much for the tetrachords.

→ lat [962] Now let us examine the pentachords. There is no doubt that the pentachords also are five in number. The first is called the ‘lowest of the principals’ because it begins with the added tone and ends with the principal of the middle tetrachord. The next in ascending progression of this kind begins with the extended tone of the principal tetrachord and ends with the note of the middle tetrachord, which in the Lydian genus has the symbol of an upright iota.⁸⁹ The third is the pentachord of the conjuncts, which goes from the extended tone of the middle tetrachord to the highest tone of the conjunct tetrachord. The fourth extends from the media to the nete of the disjunct tetrachord. The fifth, in ascending progression, begins with the extended tone of the disjunct tetrachord and ends with the nete of the extreme tetrachord.

→ lat [963] These classifications which I have just mentioned are approved by the best authorities of my discipline; but I am aware that certain authorities maintain that pentachords can begin with semitones, which is the case in the diatonic scale, about which I have had much to say above. I would like to have it clearly understood that the adquisitus finds a place in all the other groups, but cannot be found in those which do not start with a whole tone; that is, in the tetrachords; these always begin with semitones. In the others, which are called pentachords and which do not move in this way, the adquisitus is added, so that they begin with a whole tone; the second step in a pentachord is a semitone.

→ lat [964] And now we come to change melodic modulation. Modulation is the shifting of the voice to another figure of sound. The /372/ change is accomplished in any one of four ways: by genus, say from the enharmonic to either the chromatic or the diatonic genus; by system, if, for example, we pass from the principal of the principals [i.e., the Greater Perfect System] to the subprincipal [i.e., the Lesser Perfect System] or another of the systems, or when we make a transfer from the conjuncts to the disjuncts; by mode, when the melody is transferred from the Lydian mode, say, to the Phrygian or other mode; or by melodic movement, when we shift from one species of melody to another, or when we modulate from a virile melody to a feminine one.

→ lat [965] Next in order I shall discuss the styles of melodic composition. Melopoeia is the effect of completed musical motion. Melos is the result of high and low tones. Musical motion is the expression of many tones. There are three styles of melopoeia: hypatoeides, mesoeides, and netoeides. Hypatoeides, which is called tragic, consists of deeper tones; mesoeides, called dithyrambic, uses equable tones in the middle range; netoeides, called nomic, consists largely of tones in the higher range.⁹⁰ There are also other varieties which are called erotic, others comic⁹¹ and some that are encomiological. But these more appropriately belong to the previous classifications and cannot claim separate divisions. These styles are also referred to as modes (tropi).

→ lat [966] There are several varieties of melody construction, as follows: in genus, one may be enharmonic, another chromatic, and another diatonic; in style, too, because one is hypatoid, another mesoid, and another netoid; then also in mode; for example, Dorian, Lydian, and others.... so that anyone who undertakes musical composition ought to consider the system before anything else and then mingle and compose his notes. Let this discussion of the seven divisions of my art suffice.

And now let us briefly discuss the subject of rhythm (rhytmios, or numerus), since it too certainly is a branch of my discipline. → lat [967] Rhythmus is a grouping of times that are perceptible to the senses and are arranged in some orderly manner. Or we may also define numerus as the orderly arrangement of different measures. It is subordinate to time, in accordance with a proper control of /373/ modulation, by which the voice is raised or lowered and which restrains us from melodic license, in accordance with my discipline and art.

There is a difference between rhythm and that which has become rhythmic (rhythmizomenon). → lat [968] The latter is indeed the implementation of rhythms, whereas rhythm is considered to be the artificer or a form of motion.

All rhythm is divided into three categories: visual, auditory, or tactual. An example of the visual is in bodily movements; of auditory, in an appraisal of a vocal performance; of tactual, when a doctor looks for symptoms by feeling the pulse. The most important categories for us are the auditory and the visual.

→ lat [969] The art of rhythmics is entirely in measures; it admits certain measures with appropriate variations and selects legitimate substitutions. The difference between rhythm and meter is no small one, as I shall explain later. Now since, as I have said, rhythm involves the visual and auditory senses, these too may be divided into three types: into motion of the body; into proper regulation of sounds and melody; and into words, which are grouped by suitable proportions into measures and which, when combined, produce a perfect song. Rhythm in public speaking is divided by syllables; in modulation, by arsis and thesis; and in gesture, by patterns and determinate motions (schemata)⁹² that have been designed.

→ lat [970] There are seven⁹³ genera of rhythm, arising from: first, times; second, enumeration of those words which can fall into measure, those that are considered rhythmic and those which are distinguished by three terms – eurhythmon [in rhythm], arrhythmon [not in rhythm], and rhythmoides [rhythmical]; third, feet; fourth, kinds of feet; fifth, agōgē rhythmica [rhythmic progression], as we refer to it, the genus according to which rhythms and measures proceed; (6) substitutions; and (7) rhythmical composition, or how rhythm can be produced.

→ lat [971] First let us take up the tempus [the basic unit of time], which, like the atom, admits of no cutting into parts or particles. It is comparable to the point of geometricians or the monad of /374/ arithmeticians. The tempus is found in words, in the syllable; in modulation, in the sounds or intervals, which are indivisible; and in gesture, in the very first movement of the body, which we refer to as the schema. This will be the briefest point of time, which, I have said, cannot be reduced. There is also composite time, which can be divided and which, from the beginning, is either double, triple, or quadruple; for all time of rhythm extends that far. Its boundary is that which is the termination of a full proportion, and in this respect time is found to be like tone; for just as a tone is divided into four parts or dieses, so a time is comprised of a fourfold scheme of times.

→ lat [972] Of those times which are combined in measures, some are called ‘enrhythmic,’ others ‘arrhythmic,’ and still others ‘rhythmoid.’ Enrhythmic times are those which keep a definite proportion in their arrangement, as in the case of those combined in the double, the hemiolius, or other ratios. Times are arrhythmic which have no rule at all in their parts and are combined without a definite ratio. Rhythmoid times observe rhythm in some feet and spurn it in others. → lat [973] Some of these times (tempora) are called strongyla (that is, ‘rounded,’ or well-turned’); others are called periplea [very full]. The ‘rounded’ ones rush along more precipitately or readily than a legitimate order and pace demands; the ‘full’ ones, however, unduly retard the rhythm and are held back in a slow pronunciation. There are both simple and complex types of times; the latter are also called podica [belonging to a foot].

→ lat [974] The foot is the first progression of rhythm, a combination of proper and related sounds. A foot has two parts, arsis and thesis. Arsis is a raising, and thesis a lowering and slackening, of the voice.

→ lat [975] There are seven differentiating aspects of feet. First, by magnitude, since we reckon some feet as simple, others as composite. An example of a simple foot is the pyrrhic; of a composite, the paeons or their equivalents, the epitrites. Those are called simple that are divided into times (tempora); those are composite that are in turn resolved into simple feet.⁹⁴ ... others are called alogoi; /375/ that is, irrational. No ratio is found in these, and an ill-formed combination is produced. → lat [976] Another aspect is by division, where the question arises of what sort (poia) of thing is being produced when the elements that have been combined are separated in various and manifold ways, and composite feet are able to become simple. Another aspect is by figure, which customarily is dealt with by division. And a seventh aspect is by opposition; that is, when two feet have been taken together and the first has a longer quantity, the second becomes shorter; or, if the order is contrary, the quantities are reversed.

→ lat [977] There are three genera of rhythm: they are sometimes called dactylic, iambic, paeonic; sometimes equal, hemiolic, double.⁹⁵ Then, too, the epitritic is included, for the unit, when joined to itself, is always conformable because of its ratio of equality. The double type (two to one) preserves the double ratio of syllables as well as of quantities; the hemiolic type of rhythm exhibits the ratio of three to two. The ratio of four to three produces the epitritic measure. Those which we have referred to as equal we shall call dactylic. In the dactylic genus elements are joined together in a rule of equality: one quantity goes with another quantity, or two with a doubled quantity, in a numerical equality, as it were. Next comes the genus of iamb, which I have indicated above as in the double category. In this form the quantities of the feet preserve the double ratio, whether of one to two, or of two to four, or any other double ratio. The hemiolic, called paeonic above, occurs when the quantities of the feet follow the ratio and rule of the hemiolius – that is, two to 3. Often a measure is found in the ratio of epitritus, when a foot is introduced which bears the ratio of 3 to four.

→ lat [978] Now let us take up the series of each genus. The equal genus of rhythm begins with a dissyllabic foot (disemus), and goes up to sixteen syllables. This so-called disemus is the first to consist of an arsis and a thesis, as illustrated by the word leo. The double genus begins with a foot of three syllables (trisemus), and continue to 18 syllables. The hemiolic genus begins with a foot of /376/ five syllables and reaches the number of 25. The epitritic genus begins with a foot of seven syllables and ends with a foot of 14⁹⁶ whose use is complicated. I have mentioned all these sequences of feet so that the laws governing each may be observed at all times, others mixed. There are two or more kinds of composite measures.

→ lat [979] Some rhythms are composite, others incomposite, and still
manca una riga nella traduzione: ho messo tra graffe il testo latino {alii incompositi, alii permixti: et compositi ex duobus generibus uel pluribus cohaeserunt;} Incomposite measures consist of only one kind of foot, as in the case of the tetrasyllable feet. Mixed measures are those that are resolved sometimes into quantities (numeri) and sometimes into feet, as we ought to understand to be the case with a measure of six syllables. Of those measures that are said to be composite, some are joined in pairs, others in periods. A syzygy or copula⁹⁷ is the joining of two feet that are seen to be dissimilar, into one. A period is a grouping together of several feet which, though dissimilar, are taken together in a relationship of equality.

→ lat [980] There are three different kinds of dissimilarity: magnitude, genus, and opposition. A different in magnitude occurs when a measure consists of a dissyllabic as against a tetrasyllable foot; in genus, when a diplasic and a hemiolic foot are joined together, or when there is a joining of several feet on an equal basis in opposition or antithesis, when dissyllabic feet in the first position are placed with far longer feet, or tetrasyllable feet are placed with dissyllabic feet, following them. It will be fitting to note that one foot can suffice to complete a period if it is introduced alone, without a relationship of equality with the others.

→ lat [981] Of those that belong in the class of the single foot, the dactylic is the first genus. In this type the feet are incomposite and are 6 in number. There are the proceleusmatic (lesser and greater), the simple spondee, the greater spondee, and the anapaest (lesser and greater). The proceleusmatic is a foot that has both a short thesis and a short arsis. The proceleusmatic occurs more frequently, however, in tetrasyllable feet. The proceleusmatic that is dissyllabic and composed of two quantities is called the lesser proceleusmatic; the /377/ greater proceleusmatic is composed of four short quantities. The lesser or dissyllabic proceleusmatic is called syneches [continuous], because the frequent occurrence and close proximity of mutually bounding syllables does not extend to any magnitude or measure with an opportunity for division. Therefore it is fitting to introduce this foot sparingly, so that continual use of the short syllable does not interrupt the flow of the verse, which ought to be recited with some dignity. It is fittingly used, however, in combination with other feet that are longer, in order to compensate by its swifter movement for the slower pace of the longer syllable. Therefore, an appropriate application of the proceleusmatic to measures ought to begin with a tetrasyllable foot.

→ lat [982] The anapaest which is called greater receives an arsis of one syllable and a thesis of two. A quantity is called monochronos [of one time] even when it is a long syllable which customarily receives two times, or when three short times are taken together, or when there are four times in the combination. All of these are taken into account in reckoning equivalence to a long syllable. Thus the greater anapaest will receive an arsis which is called monochronos, but it is seen to have a dichronos thesis. With either part which is in the thesis equal to the other, it is necessary for the arsis to have a doubled time, that is to say that each time in the following syllable be equal to a time in the preceding syllable. Thus we call a greater anapaest (anapaistos apo mizonos) dactylic; but the lesser anapaest (anapaistos ap’ elassonos) is a combination of two shorts in the arsis and one long in the thesis.

→ lat [983] The simple spondee will be a combination of both a lengthened arsis and a lengthened thesis; but that foot is called a greater spondee which is seen to admit not only an arsis of four quantities but also a thesis of four quantities.

Double measures are formed by copula; one of these will be the greater Ionic, the other the lesser Ionic. The greater Ionic will consist of a simple spondee and a proceleusmatic, obviously of the dissyllabic type. The reverse combination is found in the lesser Ionic.

The rhythms, incomposite and composite, that belong to the dactylic genus are eight in number. → lat [984] The dactyl gets its name from the fact that its arrangement of syllables is like a human /378/ finger;⁹⁸ the anapaest, because it is arranged in reverse order.⁹⁹ The pyrrhic, or proceleusmatic, gets its name because of its repeated use in contests or children’s sports; the spondee, because it is generally used at sacrifices.¹⁰⁰ The ionic is so called because of the uneven sound of its measures: for it has two long and two. short syllables. Many listeners are often restrained at hearing such meters.¹⁰¹ This is a sufficient discussion of dactyls.

→ lat [985] Now let us discuss iambs.¹⁰² In this genus there are four incomposite measures, two composite by copula, and twelve composite by period. The incomposite measures are a random group: the iamb, consisting of a short arsis and a thesis double in length; the trochee, consisting of a doubled thesis and a short arsis; the orthius, consisting of an arsis of four syllables and a thesis of eight, so that this foot seems to comprise twelve quantities and has some kinship with the iambic foot; for in the first four quantities it corresponds with the iamb, the other eight quantities being additional. Lastly, there is the so-called semantic trochee, the reverse of the orthius, consisting of eight short quantities in the thesis and four short quantities in the arsis.

→ lat [986] Then come composite measures that are, to be sure, joined by a copula. They are classified as follows: trochaic bacchic, beginning with a trochee and ending with an iamb; iambic bacchic, beginning with an iamb and having the reverse of the feet just mentioned.¹⁰³

Then there are also measures composite by period, which proceed, so to speak, along a definite path. Although the measures in this genus are twelve in number, we must recognize four in each period. The first contains one iamb and three trochees. With regard to the first period, the measure which has the iamb first is called the iambic trochee. The one which has the iamb in the second position is called the bacchic trochee. The one that has the iamb third is called /379/ the trochaic bacchic; and the one that has the iamb fourth is called the epitritic iamb.

Of those measures that have one trochee and the rest iambs, the first is called the trochaic iamb. The second is called the bacchic iamb, another name for which is middle bacchic. The measure that has the trochee in the third position is called the iambic bacchic; and the one that has it in the fourth position is called the epitritic trochee.

→ lat [987] So far we have enumerated eight measures. Now of the twelve measures that we said are classified by periods, four keep two trochees and two iambs in each period. The measure that has the trochees in the first position is called the simple trochaic bacchic. The one that has them in the second position is called the simple iambic bacchic. But when the trochees are found in the middle position it is properly called the middle trochee. When the iambs are found in the middle, it is called the middle iamb. The total number, including measures that are joined in periods or by copula, is eighteen.

→ lat [988] The iamb gets its name from the Greek verb iambizein, which means ‘to detract.’ The ancients used this meter for lampooning; the name is also used because the iamb pours out the poison¹⁰⁴ of malice and spite. The trochee gets its name from the fact that it makes a swift turn, like a wheel.¹⁰⁵ The orthius is so called because of the uprightness of its thesis; the semantic trochee, being retarded in pace, gives indication of that drawn-out and halting character. The bacchics get their name from the fact that they most resemble the cries of bacchants and that the sport of Bacchus is suited to these measures.

→ lat [989] In the genus called paeonic there are two rhythms that are incomposite. One of these is called paeon diagyius from the long and the short in the thesis and the long arsis; the other, called epibatus, combines two long quantities in the thesis and a long arsis. These, then, are the measures of the paeonic genus; we have noted that they are incomposite. In this genus rhythm does not depend upon either copula or period. Thus the name diagyius¹⁰⁶ is given to one of them, having, as it were, two separate members; /380/ the term epibatus is given to the other because it consists of four members, a combination of a doubled arsis and two distinct theses.

→ lat [990] When these genera have been combined in various kinds of rhythms, the first species will be those called dochmiacs. Of these the first dochmiac comprises a combination of an iamb and a diagyian paeon. Later authorities have called this a diagyian cretic. The second species consists of an iamb, a dactyl, and a paeon. → lat [991] These rhythms are called ‘drawn out’ (deducti), clearly because their sounds are continual and composite.

There are also rhythms that are called ‘prose-like’ (prosodiaci). Some of these have three feet (a pyrrhic, an iamb, and a trochee); others have four (an iamb in the first position, joined to the above three). Others consist of two syzygies or copulas (a bacchic and a greater ionic).

→ lat [992] There are also, to be sure, irrational rhythms, which we call alogoi; another name for them is choreics. There are two of these: one resembles the figure of a diiamb, and consists of an arsis that is long and two theses. In its number of times it is like the dactyl, but in its parts¹⁰⁷ it is related to the ionic and iambic rhythms. There is still another rhythm, which is called trochaeides; that is, which seems to have a certain form and species of trochee, consisting of two arses and a long thesis, just the reverse of the previous choreic.

→ lat [993] There are 6 types in the mixed genera: the cretic, the iambic dactyl, the trochaic bacchic dactyl, the iambic bacchic dactyl, the iamboid choreic dactyl, and the trochaeoid choreic dactyl....¹⁰⁸

→ lat [994] Rythmopoeia is the manner of composing rhythms and working out all the figures to full perfection. It is divided into the same parts as melopoeia, which are as follows: lēpsis, or ‘perception,’ by which we understand how much use to make of a certain rhythm; chrēsis, or ‘use,’ according to which we adjust our theses and arses appropriately; mixis, or ‘mixing,’ by which, as opportunity arises, we mix rhythms artistically.

There are three èètropiàà in rhythmopoeia, as there are in melopoeia: /381/ there is the so-called èèsystaltikosàà...,¹⁰⁹ We have mentioned this above in the section on harmony.

→ lat [995] We recognize that rhythm is masculine and melody feminine. For melody is the subject which, lacking a particular form, is judged on its own; rhythm, however, as a result of the manly activity involved in it, produces form, as well as various other effects, by sounds.”

→ lat [996] Harmony was discoursing in a manner both stately and charming to an attentive audience of gods and heroes. Now she gracefully drew back, and her voice grew silent in the chorus of sweet song. Jupiter arose, and as he and the gods walked ahead, Harmony, humming a lullaby, came to the marriage chamber, to the great delight of all.

[Note a pag. 345]

¹ Presumably a reference to Juno Pronuba, goddess of marriage, invoked a few lines below. Torna al testo ↑

² Presumably the Gorgon’s head represented on the aegis of Pallas Athene. Torna al testo ↑

³ The wording of this sentence recalls a passage at the opening of Lucretius De rerum natura, in which Mars falls back into the embrace of Venus. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 346]

⁴ Remigius suggests that Mars adopts this manner here to conceal his illicit affair with Venus. Torna al testo ↑

⁵ Juno. Torna al testo ↑

⁶ I.e., Harmony, because the motions of the spheres produce harmony. Torna al testo ↑

⁷ The mother of Philology is Phronesis. The translation “endowed” is based on the manuscript reading collocatas, rather than on Dick’s collocatur. Torna al testo ↑

⁸ The reference is to the prophetic arts – like the liberal arts seven in number. Remigius says that Augustine gives the names of these maidens. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 347]

⁹ Lit., “having to do with birth dates (horoscopes).” Cf. § 228. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰ Lit., “symbolic, riddling.” Torna al testo ↑

¹¹ Lit., “having to do with omens from birds.” Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 349]

¹² Saturn, as will be revealed in a moment. Torna al testo ↑

¹³ The legal language in §§ 892 and 897-98 supports the view that Martianus was a practitioner of law. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁴ Apollo and Mercury are being addressed here, according to Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 350]

¹⁵ Cf. § 726; Ovid Amores 2. 5. 37. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁶ Caelibaris hasta, a small spear, the point of which was used to divide the locks of the bride’s hair. Cf. Ovid Fasti 2. 560, and the note in the Frazer edition (London, 1929). Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 351]

¹⁷ Martianus uses a derivative of the Greek term aulos. Though generally called a flute, the aulos was a double-reed instrument more like the oboe than the modern-day flute. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁸ Hymen, according to Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁹ Authorities do not agree on whether this was a stringed instrument or a wind instrument. See The New Oxford History of Music, Vol. I, index, s.v. “Pandore, Pandoura,” and cf. Cassiodorus (Institutiones 2. 5. 6), who classifies it among wind instruments. Torna al testo ↑

²⁰ Orpheus. He had been instructed not to look back upon Eurydice as he was leading her out of Hades; but, as he was approaching daylight, he looked back, and she disappeared from sight. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 352]

²¹ Dick’s text reads glandibus [on the acorns] where the present translation prefers cladibus [lit., on the branches]. Sec Alexander Souter, ed., A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A.D. (Oxford, 1949), s.v. “cladus.” Cladibus (Gr. klados) = ramis, according to Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

²² Olympus, pupil and favorite of Marsyas. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 353]

²³ Remigius says that the term effigies refers to musical instruments made by mortals, as contrasted with the divine music symbolized on the shield. Torna al testo ↑

²⁴ Pierre Courcelle, Les Lettres grecques en Occident de Macrobe d Cassiodore (Paris, 1943), p. 204, interprets this as mystic silence. Torna al testo ↑

²⁵ Egersimon; cf. § 2. Torna al testo ↑

²⁶ Draco. Torna al testo ↑

²⁷ The Great and Little Bears. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 354]

²⁸ On the barbiton and the cithara, see W. D. Anderson, Ethos and Education in Greek Music: The Evidence of Poetry and Philosophy (Cambridge, Mass., 1966), pp. 3-7. Torna al testo ↑

²⁹ Miscilla; cf. § 997. Torna al testo ↑

³⁰ In the form of Menippean satire. Torna al testo ↑

³¹ Cf. § 42. Torna al testo ↑

³² The sun and the moon. Dick has Pallas, not Phoebus, but Eyssenhardt emends to Phoebus, which clearly makes more sense in the context [RJ]. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 355]

³³ Cf. § n, where the tones correspond to the height of the trees. Torna al testo ↑

³⁴ See Souter, Glossary: s.v. harundinetum. Torna al testo ↑

³⁵ The reference is to Leda, mother of Helen. Torna al testo ↑

³⁶ Selene, goddess of the moon. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 356]

³⁷ Adopting the reading terrigenis of Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 357]

³⁸ Remigius offers two explanations: harmony is inherent in the heavens; Harmony is a twin sister to Arithmetic, because there are numerical ratios in harmony. Torna al testo ↑

³⁹ The Neoplatonic One, identified with the Fabricator of the Universe. Torna al testo ↑

⁴⁰ Cf. § 739. Torna al testo ↑

⁴¹ On the prominence of the hydraulic organ as a musical instrument in Roman imperial times, see Oxford History of Music, I, 398; J. F. Mountford, “Greek Music and Its Relation to Modern Times,” Journal of Hellenic Studies, XL (1920), 38. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 358]

⁴² Queen of the Amazons, according to Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

⁴³ According to Remigius, if the beats were rhythmic, the patient was well. Torna al testo ↑

⁴⁴ Orpheus. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 359]

⁴⁵ See Morris R. Cohen and I. E. Drabkin, A Source Book in Greek Science (New York, 1948), p. 538. Torna al testo ↑

⁴⁶ M. Terentius Varro (116-27 Torna al testo ↑

⁴⁷ For some of the many analogues in classical literature to the instances cited here of the influences of music upon man and the world of nature, see the apparatus in the Dick edition. Sec also Edward A. Lippman, Musical 7bought in Ancient Greece (New York, 1964), chap. II. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 360]

⁴⁸ On the enharmonic scale, see the Macran edition of Aristoxenus Harmonics, pp. 254-55. Torna al testo ↑

⁴⁹ See ibid., p. 7. Torna al testo ↑

⁵⁰ I he Greek words hypate and nete mean “highest” and “lowest,” respectively; but in the names of the tonoi they refer to the position of the hand on the tilted cithara, not to the pitch produced. The English equivalents given in brackets here describe the tone, rather than give a literal translation of the Greek or Latin terms. See also Vol. I, pp. 207-9. Torna al testo ↑

⁵¹ The diatottos is called the lichanos [forefinger string[ by most ancient writers, because it is played by that finger. See Aristoxenus Harmonics, ed. Macran, p. 12. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 361]

⁵² See above, Vol. I, pp. 208-9. Torna al testo ↑

⁵³ The interval of a perfect fourth. Torna al testo ↑

⁵⁴ Cf. § 940. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 362]

⁵⁵ See the article by J. F. Mountford and R. P. Winnington-Ingram in The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford, 1949), p. 586. Torna al testo ↑

⁵⁶ Martianus’ discussion of music apparently is drawn from two main sources. From this point on, his discussion of music and metrics is largely a translation of the work Peri mousikes by Aristides Quintilianus (2d-3d cent. a.d.). Cf. above, Vol. I, p. 210. Torna al testo ↑

⁵⁷ A dithyrambist who lived in the sixth century b.c., pioneer of the classical movement (The New Oxford History of Music, I, p. 382); teacher of Pindar and – according to the Suda (a Greek lexicon and encyclopedia of the tenth century a.d.) – author of the earliest work on the theory of music. Sec Macran, ed., Aristoxenus, p. 226. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 363]

⁵⁸ A promise not fully kept. Three of the terms are discussed later: lēpsis (§ 994); plokē (§ 958); and melopoeia (§ 965). Torna al testo ↑

⁵⁹ See D. B. Munro, The Modes of Ancient Greek Music (Oxford, 1894), pp. 116-17. Torna al testo ↑

⁶⁰ The remaining sections on music are devoted to a discussion of these seven aspects, as follows: tones (939-47), intervals (948-53), systems (954), genera (955-59), tonoi (960-63), changes of system (964), and melody construction (965-66). This division of harmonics probably is the standard one. It is used also by Cleonides Introductio harmonica. Sec Manfred Fuhrmann, Das systematische Lehrbuch: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Wissenschaft in der Antike (Gottingen, 1960), p. 34. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 364]

⁶¹ In § 931 Martianus enumerated eighteen tones, but he was following a different authority; here he is translating Aristides Quintilianus, who lists twentyeight. See above, Vol. I, pp. 211 ff. Torna al testo ↑

⁶² I.e., the adquisitus is an octave lower than the mese. Torna al testo ↑

⁶³ The term “principalis” is derived from the Latin princeps, meaning “ruler.” Cf. § 931. Torna al testo ↑

⁶⁴ Actually above in pitch. See n. 50, above. Torna al testo ↑

⁶⁵ See The New Oxford History of Music, I, p. 344: “Each tetrachordal skeleton is filled by two ‘movable’ notes. The possible ranges of their motion were classified in three genera... (a) enharmonic; (b) chromatic; (c) diatonic.” Martianus (like his source Aristides) is considering the variable in each of the three genera not as one note but as three. This gives two additional notes in each of the five tetrachords and accounts for the discrepancy between the lists of eighteen and twenty-eight notes.

[Note a pag. 365]

⁶⁶ This statement and the following are literal translations of the Latin text, which describes the positions with reference to fingering, not pitch. Cf. § 931, where the English designations of the tones are given in brackets. Torna al testo ↑

⁶⁷ The words in brackets may be a gloss, not part of the original. Torna al testo ↑

⁶⁸ I.e., the octave. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 366]

⁶⁹ Crowded intervals are defined in § 950 as pertaining to dieses; spissum (Gr. pyknon) is the name given to a close arrangement of three tones. Torna al testo ↑

⁷⁰ Again, this is a literal translation of the Latin text and refers to finger positions, not pitch. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 367]

⁷¹ See Macron, ed., Aristoxenus, p. 237: “The term homophonoi is applied to notes which differ in function but coincide in pitch. Thus the Dominant of the key of D and the Subdominant of the key of E fall alike on A." Torna al testo ↑

⁷² The fourth aspect is missing in a lacuna in the Martianus manuscripts. Aristides gives it as according to the region or locus of the voice. Torna al testo ↑

⁷³ On ethos and pitch, see Macran, ed., Aristoxenus, p. 73; Munro, p. 66. Torna al testo ↑

⁷⁴ See Macran, p. 237. Incomposite or simple intervals are so called because, in a given scale, no note can occur between them. Torna al testo ↑

⁷⁵ Aristides here has dieses. It would appear that Martianus failed to understand the discussion. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 368]

⁷⁶ Nine to eight. Torna al testo ↑

⁷⁷ System teleion in Greek. See Munro, pp. 35-40. Martianus means eight octave species of the “greater perfect system.” See above, Vol. I, p. 215.

⁷⁸ The ensuing terms have been translated above (§ 931). Martianus here confuses some of the terms. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 369]

⁷⁹ harmonia, chroma, and diatonon. Torna al testo ↑

⁸⁰ The words “in ascending progression,” omitted in a lacuna in the Martianus manuscripts, are supplied here from the text of Aristides Quintilianus. Torna al testo ↑

⁸¹ Plokē is zigzag progression, when every second interval is ascending, and alternate intervals are descending. See Macran, ed., Aristoxenus, p. 267. See also above, Vol. I, pp. 216 ff. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 370]

⁸² According to Aristides Quintilianus, agōgē is divided into three species: eutheia, ascending by consecutive notes; peripheres, ascending by conjunction and descending by disjunction, or vice versa; anakamptousa, descending by consecutive notes. Se Macran, ed., Aristoxenus, p. 267. Torna al testo ↑

⁸³ See J. F. Mountford, “Greek Music and Its Relation to Modern Times,” Journal of Hellenic Studies, XL (1920), 25. Torna al testo ↑

⁸⁴ I.e., ¹/₃, ¹/₃, 1⁵/₆. Torna al testo ↑

^{85 3}/₈, ³/₈, 1³/₄. See ibid. Torna al testo ↑

⁸⁶ Tonus, from the Greek èètonosàà (verb èèteinoàà, “to stretch”). Torna al testo ↑

⁸⁷ For the representation of these symbols in the Lydian scale, see Macran, ed., Aristoxenus, pp. 50-51. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 371]

⁸⁸ There is a lacuna here where Martianus must have given the bounding notes for the middle tetrachord. Torna al testo ↑

⁸⁹ The media, or mese. Cf. § 960. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 372]

⁹⁰ See Munro, pp. 63-64. See also above, Vol. I, pp. 218 ff. Torna al testo ↑

⁹¹ The words “others comic,” omitted from Martianus’ text, are supplied from Aristides 1. 12. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 373]

⁹² Explained in § 971. Torna al testo ↑

⁹³ Aristides Quintilianus has five classifications of rhythm. Martianus, in order to make the number of genera of rhythm correspond to those of harmonics, divides Aristides’ first two categories into two parts each. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 374]

⁹⁴ This whole paragraph is badly corrupted in the manuscripts, and the second, third, and fourth aspects are missing in a lacuna which begins at this point. The sense may be restored by comparing with the text of Aristides Quintilianus; cf. above, Vol. I, p. rri, which so uses Aristides. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 375]

⁹⁵ The text of Martianus gives the order incorrectly; the correct order is èèaequaliaàà, èèdupliciaàà, èèhemioliaàà. See Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2d&&ed., s.v. “rhythm,” 2.b. Cf. above, Vol. 1, pp. 221 ff. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 376]

⁹⁶ The manuscripts are corrupt here, or Martianus was mistaken in using 28 rather than 14. Meibom corrected the error, and the Dick text follows that emendation. Torna al testo ↑

⁹⁷ On the meaning of copula, see Fanny J. Le Moine, Martianus Capella: A Literary Reevaluation (Munich, 1972), pp. 22-25. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 378]

⁹⁸ Gr. èèdaktylosàà (finger]; the dactyl has one long member and two short members. Torna al testo ↑

⁹⁹ Gr. èèanapaistosàà [struck back, rebounding]. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰⁰ Gr. pyrricbe [a war dance or competitive dance]; prokeleusinatikos [rousing to action beforehand]; sponde [libation]. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰¹ See Vol. I, p. 225. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰² See § 988 for Martianus’ derivation of “lamb.” Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰³ See Vol. 1, p. 224. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 379]

¹⁰⁴ Gr. èèiosàà [poison, or venom]. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰⁵ Gr. èètrochosàà [wheel]. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰⁶ A Greek word, meaning “two-limbed.” Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 380]

¹⁰⁷ The parts of its delivery, according to Aristides Quintilianus 1. 17. Torna al testo ↑

¹⁰⁸ There is a lacuna here; the missing section seems to have contained an analysis of the six mixed forms. Torna al testo ↑

[Note a pag. 381]

¹⁰⁹ The last two èètropiàà are missing in a lacuna here, just as those of melopoeia are missing in the lacuna at § 966. The lacuna here may be supplied from Aristides’ text (40. 14-15). Torna al testo ↑

¹¹⁰ The author is here addressing his son. Torna al testo ↑

¹¹¹ The reading of the manuscripts, èècreagrisàà, is unclear in meaning. Morelli conjectured èècathedrisàà [seats of learning]. The Greek word èèkreagraàà means “fleshhook.” Torna al testo ↑

¹¹² Following the reading èènauciàà of Remigius. Torna al testo ↑

¹¹³ According to Remigius, this is a reference to the Areopagus, where Greek philosophers met and debated. Torna al testo ↑

¹¹⁴ Remigius sees in the word a suggestion of one speaking pompously. The /382/ text is very corrupt at this point; the translation gives what appears to be the meaning.

[Note a pag. 382]

¹¹⁵ èèFlosculoàà. This word often referred also to ornaments of speech. Torna al testo ↑

¹¹⁶ Dido, queen of Carthage. Torna al testo ↑