μὴ λόγον ‐‐ μέλει
. See 398 D note
τρἴ ἄττα εἴδη
. Arist. Quint. I 34 ed. Meibom
γένη τοίνυν ἐστὶ ῥυθμικὰ τρία· τὸ ἴσον (2/2),
τὸ ήμιόλιον (3/2),
τὸ διπλάσιον (2/1). To the first belong dactyls, spondees, anapaests: the second includes paeons, cretics, and bacchei: under the third fall trcchees, iambics, ionics. See Gleditsch l.c. p. 694.
ὥσπερ ‐‐ ἁρμονίαι
. What are the
τέτταρα εἴδη? The following answers (among others) have been given: 1. the intervals of the fourth, fifth, octave, and double octave (Ast): 2. the four notes of the tetrachord, which was probably the historical and at all events the ‘theoretical unit of the scale’ (Stallbaum, Jowett and Campbell): 3. “the four ratios which give the primary musical intervals—viz. the ratios 2:1, 3:2, 4:3 and 9:8, which give the octave, fifth, fourth, and tone” (Monro l.c. p. 106 note; cf. also
Dict. Ant. II p. 193): 4. the four
ἁρμονίαι Φρυγιστί, Λυδιστί, Δωριστί, Λοκριστί (Westphal
Rhythmik p. 238). Ast's view cannot be right, unless we suppose that
ἁρμονίαι here includes scales of double compass, which is most unlikely. Westphal's explanation is improbable, for Plato has said nothing of
Λοκριστί, and (though perhaps no great stress should be laid on this) it is awkward to derive the
ἁρμονίαι (
ὅθεν αἱ πᾶσαι ἁρμονίαι) from themselves. If the principle of Westphal's interpretation is right, I should be inclined to substitute
Ἰαστί for
Λοκριστί, having regard to 398 E, where see note Cf.
Cl. Rev. X p. 379. (I have since found that Prantl also took this view: see note 116 in his translation.) I do not think that Stallbaum has hit the truth, for Plato's language is not suggestive of any allusion to the origin of the octave from the combination of two tetrachords, and a single tetrachord cannot produce a
ἁρμονία (
ὅθεν αἱ πᾶσαι ἁρμονίαι). Possibly the
τέτταρα εἴδη ἐν τοῖς φθόγγοις denote simply the keynote, its octave, and the intervals of a tone and a semitone: for these are as it were the threads out of which all modes ‘are woven’ (
πλέκονται should be repeated with
ἁρμονίαι), the difference between the modes depending on the difference in position of the tones and semitones. But Euclid lays the greatest stress upon the ratios 3:2 and 4:3 as the component elements of the octave: see for example
Sect. Can. 6
τὸ διπλάσιον διάστημα ἐκ δύο τῶν μεγίστων ἐπιμορίων συνέστηκεν, ἔκ τε τοῦ ἡμιολίου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιτρίτου and cf. ib. 8, 12, and for this reason I now believe that Monro's view has most in its favour.
ποῖα δ’ ὁποίου κτλ.
On
ὁποίου see I 348 B note, and for the error in Paris A
Introd. § 5.
Δάμωνος
. μετὰ Δάμωνος is almost a formula with Plato: cf. infra C, 424 C, and
Lach. 200 B
. Suseminl (on Arist.
Pol.
Θ 5. 1340^{b} 5) thinks that Plato is alluding to a special work by Damon on the
ἦθος and
πάθος of modes and rhythms. The word
ἀκηκοέναι and the general tone of the passage seem rather to refer to an oral demonstration.
τίνας ‐‐ ῥυθμούς
. In general,
πόδες ἀπὸ ἄρσεως, or feet in which the
θέσις (i.e. the syllable bearing the ictus) followed the
ἄρσις, were believed to express more energy and life, than
πόδες ἀπὸ θέσεως. See Gleditsch p. 694, and for details as to the
ἦθος of the different rhythms ib. pp. 713, 721, 725, 730, 739, 744, 766.
οἶμαι δέ με κτλ.
Schneider's
δέ γε (found in some inferior MSS) is not appropriate here. The superfluous pronoun after
οἶμαι is a well-established colloquialism: cf.
Charm. 173 A
,
Symp. 175 E
.
οἶμαι, ἀκηκοέναι, and
οὐ σαφῶς ὀνομάζοντος are just the words one might employ in giving one's recollections of an abstruse and half-understood lecture, and this is just what Plato is either doing or, more probably, affecting to do. A few technical terms and a vague idea (
οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως) of some of the processes are all that he remembers.
ἐνόπλιον ‐‐ ήρῷόν γε
. ἐνόπλιος ξύνθετος, δάκτυλος, ἡρῷος are expressions from the lecture: in English they would be in inverted commas. The
ἐνόπλιος is not
˘¯¯˘˘˘˘ (Proclus
in remp. p. 61, if, as appears probable, by
παριαμβίς he means the
παρίαμβος or pyrrich), nor the cretic (J. and C.), nor, strictly speaking, the anapaestic foot (Hartman), but
᷋<*>˘˘<*>˘˘<*>, a common processional (
προσοδιακός) or marching rhythm, consisting of an
ἰωνικὸς ἀπὸ μείζονος and a choriambus (Hephaestion c. 15), or (as the Scholiast on
Ar.
Clouds 651
measures it) a spondee, pyrrich, trochee and iambus. For examples we may cite Sappho's
αὔτα δὲ σὺ Καλλιόπη (
Fr. 82) and Tyrtaeus'
ἄγετ’ ὦ Σπάρτας ἔνοπλοι (
Fr. 16). See Gleditsch l.c. pp. 717, 722, and Bacchius
Isag. 101 ed. von Jan, whose example is
ὁ τὸν πίτυος στέφανον. ξύνθετος probably refers to the composite character of the rhythm. as described, for example, by the Scholiast on the
Clouds. The later technical expression for this peculiarity was
ἐπισύνθετος (Gleditsch p. 746).
δάκτυλον must be understood as a foot, not as a rhythm, although the
ἐνόπλιος ξύνθετος certainly, and probably also the
ἡρῷος, are rhythms. There is no difficulty about this, provided we remember that Plato is quoting (or pretending to quote) isolated technical expressions from Damon's lecture. The ingenious, though hazardous, proposal of Blaydes, to read
καὶ <κατὰ> δάκτυλον (cf.
Clouds 651), would confine the instances to rhythms until we reach
ἴαμβον. Dr Jackson suggests
δακτυλικόν in place of
δάκτυλον. It is tempting (with J. and C.) to take
ἡρῷος as ‘spondee,’ but there seems to be no authority for such a use of the word. The
ἡρῷος πούς is apparently a dactyl; although the
ἡρῷος ῥυθμός admits of the spondee. Unless, therefore, we take
ἡρῷος as a rhythm, the spondee seems to be altogether excluded. It is unnecessary to do more than allude to Hartman's excision of
ξύνθετον καὶ δάκτυλον.
ἴσον ‐‐ τιθέντος
. ἄνω and
κάτω
refer of course to the position of the arsis and thesis (cf.
ὁ ἄνω, ὁ κάτω χρόνος said of the notes at which the foot or bâton is raised and brought down respectively), but Westphal's remark that Plato uses
τ ὸ ἄνω and
τὸ κάτω is misleading (
Rhythmik p. 104). The words must be taken as adverbs, and can only be explained by supposing that when Damon was demonstrating the equality of arsis and thesis he ‘placed’—
τιθέντος is not ‘assuming’ as
διακοσμοῦντος shews—the former in a diagram above the latter, in some such way as
<*><*>. The position of the ictus —
ἄνω καὶ κάτω, not
κάτω καὶ ἄνω—shews that Plato is speaking of the dactyl and spondee which replace the anapaest in the anapaestic rhythm: for in the dactylic rhythm proper the ictus falls on the first syllable (see Gleditsch p. 693). Now the
ἐνόπλιος is also anapaestic, so that it looks as if Damon had taken as the subject of his demonstration some passage like
Persae 9, 10
ἤδη |
κακόμαντις ἄγαν ὀρσολοπεῖται, and analysed it into an
ἐνόπλιος ξύνθἐτος, a dactyl, and a spondee (included, as stated above, under the
ἡρῷος ῥυθμός).
εἰς βραχύ ‐‐ γιγνόμενον
. These words can only mean ‘passing into a short and a long,’ “mit kurzem und langen Ausgang” (Schneider), “so dass er sowohl in eine kurze als auch in eine lange Silbe auslief” (Prantl): see on II 380 D. The slight inaccuracy involved in saying
γιγνόμενον, where
τελευτῶντα (cf. VI 511 C) would have been more precise, is perhaps in keeping with the airy nonchalance of Socrates' description. The construction is missed by Westphal (
Rhythmik p. 237) and the English translators and editors.
γιγνόμενον agrees with
ἡρῷον: the
ἡρῷος ῥυθμὸς γίγνεται εἰς βραχύ when it uses a dactyl,
εἰς μακρόν when it uses a spondee (or anapaest), the two alternatives being denoted by
τε καί. I have sometimes felt disposed to take the words as referring to the iambus, and place them just before
ὡς ἐγὼ οἶμαι, translating ‘and when it’ (the rhythm) ‘changed to a short and a long, I think he called it an iambus’: but although this interpretation gives a somewhat better sense to
γιγνόμενον, I am not convinced that the MSS are wrong. Hartman also suggests the transposition of
καί, but he might have spared his “minime audax coniectura”
ἐκ βραχέων τε καὶ μακρῶν γιγνόμενον. See also the next note.
μήκη ‐‐ προσῆπτε
. Hartman takes these words as explaining the trochee only, laying emphasis on the precedence given to
μήκη; but the use of the plural shews that the iambus is also included. The meaning is simply ‘and he assigned them longs and shorts,’ i.e. to each one long, and one short. This clause is in favour of keeping
εἰς βραχύ—γιγνόμενον in its place; if we transpose (as suggested in the last note), the short and long of the iambus will be alluded to twice.
ἀγωγάς
. ἀγωγή is
tempo (Gleditsch p. 688). The unit of measurement was the
χρόνος πρῶτος or ¯: and hence the dactyl. for example, has usually a
τετράσημος ἀγωγή, the iambus a
τρίσημος, and so on. See
Excerpta Neapol. in von Jan's
Mus. Script. Gr. § 14. The duration of the
χρόνος πρῶτος was of course relative, and not absolute, so that the time occupied in singing or declaiming a foot often varied, and we are told that
ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ ἐν δισήμῳ (sc.
ἀγωγῇ )
γίνεται δακτυλικὸς πούς (
Exc. Neap. l. c.). But it is clear that in general the
ἀγωγαί of the different kinds of feet were different from one another. Hartman ejects
τοῦ ποδός, “cum apud Platonem
πούς et
ῥυθμός non discrepent.” The distinction between
πούς and
ῥυθμός is not always preserved by writers on metre (e.g. Bacchius
Isag. 100 ff. ed. von Jan), but Plato seems to make the
πούς differ from the
ῥυθμός as the unit from the whole.
ἤτοι
. See on I 344 E.
εὐσχημοσύνης
: grace or beauty of form in the widest sense. The word is introduced in view of the application of these principles to objects appealing to the eye: see 401 A.
ἀνάρμοστον
. The article (which Baiter and Hartman require) is unnecessary. See on I 334 E.
ἀκολουθητέον
(i.q.
δεῖ ἀκολουθεῖν) has
ταῦτα for its subject, as Stallbaum points out: cf.
Laws 803 D
τί παίζοντα ἐστὶ διαβιωτέον; and infra V 467 C.
τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς ἤθει ἕπεται
. Le style c'est l'homme. Conversely, thought is the dialogue of the soul with itself: see
Theaet. 189 E
(with Wohlrab's note) and
Soph. 263 E
. Cf. also IV 437 C note and Homer's
διελέξατο θυμός.
ὡς εὐήθειαν
is expunged by Herwerden; Baiter would omit
ὡς. If
ὡς belonged to
εὐήθειαν (as these critics apparently supposed), it would deserve expulsion; but it goes with
οὖσαν understood. The antithesis is between
ἄνοιαν and
εὐήθειαν: and if the sentence is read so as to lay stress on these two words, it will be seen how easily
οὖσαν can be repeated after
εὐήθειαν. The sense is: not the
εὐήθεια which is really
ἄνοια, but which we euphemistically designate as if it were
εὐ‐ήθεια (i.e., as before, in the good sense of the word), but
εὐήθεια in its true and etymological sense (
ὠς ἀληθῶς)—the
εὖ τὸ ἦθος κατεσκευασμένην διάνοιαν. This explanation seems to me better than to regard
ὡς εὐήθειαν as attracted for
ὡς εὐήθεια (sc.
ἐστίν), a construction for which we may compare
Prot. 357 D
: see my note ad loc. For
ὡς ἀληθῶς cf. I 343 C note
τὸ αὑτῶν πράττειν
. The principle of
ἁπλότης, which is the corner-stone of Plato's city, presents itself in the education of the young, as the pursuit of
εὐήθεια.
ἔστιν δέ γέ που κτλ.
This lofty conception of
ἁρμονία and
ῥυθμός—for
αὐτῶν shews that these are included no less than
εὐσχημοσύνη—stretching throughout the whole domain of art and nature, may have been suggested by Pythagorean teaching: but the view of education as the pursuit and assimilation of all this beauty is due to Plato himself. Cf. 403 C note
