14.1. THIS discourse ended, we poured out our offerings to the Muses, and together with a hymn in honor of Apollo, the patron of the Muses, we sung with Erato, who played upon the harp, the generation of the Muses out of Hesiod. After the song was done, Herod the rhetorician said: Pray, sirs, hearken. Those that will not admit Calliope to be ours say that she keeps company with kings, not such, I suppose, as are busied in resolving syllogisms or disputing, but such who do those things that belong to rhetoricians and statesmen. But of the rest of the Muses, Clio abets encomiums, for praises are called κλέα; and Polymnia history, for her name signifies the remembrance of many things; and it is said that all the Muses were somewhere called Remembrances. And for my part, I think Euterpe hath some relation to us too, if (as Chrysippus says) her lot be agreeableness in discourse and pleasantness in conversation. For it belongs to an orator to converse, as well as plead or give advice; since it is his part to gain the favor of his auditors, and to defend or excuse his client. To praise or dispraise is the commonest theme; and if we manage this artfully, it will turn to considerable account; if unskilfully, we are lost. For that saying, “Gods! how he is honored and beloved by all,” chiefly, in my opinion, belongs to those men who have a pleasing and persuasive faculty in discourse.
14.1. ἐκ τούτου σπονδὰς ἐποιησάμεθα ταῖς Μούσαις, καὶ τῷ Μουσηγέτῃ Ἀπόλλωνι παιανίσαντες συνῄσαμεν τῷ Ἐράτωνι πρὸς τὴν λύραν ἐκ τῶν Ἡσιόδου τὰ περὶ τὴν τῶν Μουσῶν γένεσιν. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ᾠδὴν Ἡρώδης ὁ ῥήτωρ ἀκούετʼ ἔφη ὑμεῖς οἱ τὴν Καλλιόπην ἀποσπῶντες ἡμῶν, σὺν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν αὐτὴν παρεῖναί φασιν, οὐκ ἀναλύουσι δήπου συλλογισμοὺς οὐδʼ ἐρωτῶσι μεταλλάττοντας, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πράττουσιν ἃ ῥητόρων ἐστὶ καὶ πολιτικῶν ἔργα. τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ἥ τε Κλειὼ τὸ ἐγκωμιαστικὸν προσάγεται· κλέα γὰρ ἐκάλουν τοὺς ἐπαίνους· ἥ τε Πολύμνια τὸ ἱστορικὸν ἔστι γὰρ μνήμη πολλῶν· ἐνιαχοῦ δὲ καὶ πάσας·, ὥσπερ ἐν λείῳ, τὰς Μούσας Μνείας καλεῖσθαι λέγουσιν. ἐγὼ δὲ μεταποιοῦμαὶ τι καὶ τῆς Εὐτέρπης· εἴπερ, ὥς φησι Χρύσιππος, αὕτη τὸ περὶ τὰς ὁμιλίας ἐπιτερπὲς εἴληχε καὶ κεχαρισμένον. ὁμιλητικὸς γὰρ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ δικανικὸς ὁ ῥήτωρ καὶ συμβουλευτικός· αἱ γὰρ ἕξεις ἔχουσι καὶ εὐμενείας καὶ συνηγορίας καὶ ἀπολογίας· πλείστῳ δὲ τῷ ἐπαινεῖν χρώμεθα καὶ τῷ ψέγειν, ἐν τούτοις οὐ φαύλων οὐδὲ μικρῶν τυγχάνοντες, ἂν τεχνικῶς τοῦτο πράττωμεν ἂν δʼ ἀπείρως καὶ ἀτεχνῶς, ἀστοχοῦντες· τὸ γάρὦ πόποι, ὡς ὅδε πᾶσι φίλος καὶ τίμιός ἐστινἀνθρώποις… δὲ μᾶλλον, ὡς τὸ περὶ τὰς ὁμιλίας εὐάρμοστον ἔχουσι, πειθὼ καὶ χάριν οἶμαι προσήκειν.
14.2. Then said Ammonius to Herod: We have no reason to be angry with you for grasping all the Muses, since the goods that friends have are common, and Jove hath begotten a great many Muses, that every man may be plentifully supplied; for we do not all need skill in hunting, military arts, navigation, or any mechanical trades; but learning and instruction is necessary for every one that “Eats the fruits of the spacious earth.” And therefore Jove made but one Minerva, one Diana, one Vulcan, but many Muses. But why there should be nine, and no more nor less, pray acquaint us; for you, so great a lover of, and so well acquainted with, the Muses, must certainly have considered this matter. What difficulty is there in that? replied Herod. The number nine is in every body’s mouth, as being the first square of the first odd number; and as doubly odd, since it may be divided into three equal odd numbers. Ammonius with a smile subjoined: Boldly said; and pray add, that this number is composed of the first two cubes, one and eight, and according to another composition of two triangles, three and six, each of which is itself perfect. But why should this belong to Muses more than any other of the Gods? For we have nine Muses, but not nine Cereses, nine Minervas or Dianas. For I do not believe you take it for a good argument, that the Muses must be so many, because their mother’s name (Mnemosyne) consists of just so many letters. Herod smiling, and every body being silent, Ammonius desired our opinions.
14.2. καὶ ὁ Ἀμμώνιος οὐκ ἄξιον ἔφη σοι νεμεσᾶν, ὦ Ἡρώδη, καὶ πλείῃ χειρὶ τῶν Μουσῶν ἐπιδραττομένῳ· κοινὰ γὰρ τὰ φίλων. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλὰς ἐγέννησε Μούσας ὁ Ζεύς, ὅπως ᾖ πᾶσιν ἀρύσασθαι τῶν καλῶν ἀφθόνως· οὔτε γὰρ κυνηγίας πάντες οὔτε στρατείας οὔτε ναυτιλίας οὔτε βαναυσουργίας, παιδείας δὲ καὶ λόγου δεόμεθα πάντες εὐρυεδοῦς ὅσοι καρπὸν αἰνύμεθα χθονός ὅθεν Ἀθηνᾶν μίαν καὶ Ἄρτεμιν καὶ Ἥφαιστον ἕνα, Μούσας δὲ πολλὰς ἐποίησεν. ὅτι δʼ ἐννέα καὶ οὐκ ἐλάττους οὐδὲ πλείους, ἆρʼ ἂν ἡμῖν φράσειας; οἶμαι δέ σε πεφροντικέναι φιλόμουσον οὕτω καὶ πολύμουσον ὄντα.τί δὲ τοῦτο σοφόν; εἶπεν ὁ Ἡρώδης· πᾶσι γὰρ διὰ στόματός ἐστι καὶ πάσαις ὑμνούμενος ὁ τῆς ἐννεάδος ἀριθμός, ὡς πρῶτος ἀπὸ πρώτου περισσοῦ τετράγωνος ὢν καὶ περισσάκις περισσός, ἅτε δὴ τὴν διανομὴν εἰς τρεῖς ἴσους λαμβάνων περισσούς. καὶ ὁ Ἀμμώνιος ἐπιμειδιάσας ἀνδρικῶς ταυτὶ διεμνημόνευσας· καὶ πρόσθες αὐτοῖς ἔτι τοσοῦτον, τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐκ δυεῖν τῶν πρώτων κύβων συνηρμόσθαι μονάδος καὶ ὀγδοάδος, καὶ καθʼ ἑτέραν αὖ πάλιν σύνθεσιν ἐκ δυεῖν τριγώνων, τριάδος καὶ ἑξάδος ὧν ἑκάτερος καὶ τέλειός ἐστιν. ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα ταῖς Μούσαις μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς ἄλλοις θεοῖς; προσῆκεν, ὅτι Μούσας ἔχομεν ἐννέα, Δήμητρας δὲ καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ἀρτέμιδας οὐκ ἔχομεν; οὐ γὰρ δήπου καὶ σὲ πείθει τὸ Μούσας γεγονέναι τοσαύτας, ὅτι τοὔνομα τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν ἐκ τοσούτων γραμμάτων ἐστίν. γελάσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἡρώδου καὶ σιωπῆς γενομένης, προὔτρεπεν ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειρεῖν ὁ Ἀμμώνιος.
14.3. My brother said, that the ancients celebrated but three Muses, and that to bring proofs for this assertion would be pedantic and uncivil in such a company. The reason of this number was (not as some say) the three different sorts of music, the diatonic, the chromatic, and harmonic, nor those stops that make the intervals nete, mese, and hypate; though the Delphians gave the Muses this name erroneously, in my opinion, appropriating it to one science, or rather to a part of one single science, the harmoniac part of music. But, as I think, the ancients, reducing all arts and sciences which are practised and performed by reason or discourse to three heads, philosophy, rhetoric, and mathematics, accounted them the gifts of three Gods, and named them the Muses. Afterwards, about Hesiod’s time, the sciences being better and more thoroughly looked into, men subdividing them found that each science contained three different parts. In mathematics are comprehended music, arithmetic, and geometry; in philosophy are logic, ethics, and physics. In rhetoric, they say the first part was demonstrative or encomiastic, the second deliberative, the third judicial. None of all which they believed to be without a God or a Muse or some superior power for its patron, and did not, it is probable, make the Muses equal in number to these divisions, but found them to be so. Now, as you may divide nine into threes, and each three into as many units; so there is but one rectitude of reason, which is employed about the supreme truth, and which belongs to the whole in common, while each of the three kinds of science has three Muses assigned to it, and each of these has her separate faculty assigned to her, which she disposes and orders. And I do not think the poets and astrologers will find fault with us for passing over their professions in silence, since they know, as well as we, that astrology is comprehended in geometry, and poetry in music.
14.3. εἶπεν οὖν ὁ ἀδελφός, ὅτι τρεῖς ᾔδεσαν οἱ παλαιοὶ Μούσας· καὶ τούτου λέγειν ἀπόδειξιν ὀψιμαθές ἐστι καὶ ἄγροικον ἐν τοσούτοις καὶ τοιούτοις ἀνδράσιν. αἰτία δʼ οὐχ ὡς ἔνιοι λέγουσι τὰ μελῳδούμενα γένη, τὸ διάτονον καὶ τὸ χρωματικὸν καὶ τὸ ἐναρμόνιον οὐδʼ οἱ τὰ διαστήματα παρέχοντες ὅροι, νήτη καὶ μέση καὶ ὑπάτη· καίτοι Δελφοί γε τὰς Μούσας οὕτως ὠνόμαζον, οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἑνὶ μαθήματι, μᾶλλον δὲ μορίῳ μαθήματος ἑνὸς τοῦ μουσικοῦ, τῷ γʼ ἁρμονικῷ, προστιθέντες. ἁπάσας δʼ ὡς ἐγὼ νομίζω τὰς διὰ λόγου περαινομένας ἐπιστήμας καὶ τέχνας οἱ παλαιοὶ καταμαθόντες ἐν τρισὶ γένεσιν οὔσας, τῷ φιλοσόφῳ καὶ τῷ ῥητορικῷ καὶ τῷ μαθηματικῷ, τριῶν ἐποιοῦντο δῶρα καὶ χάριτας θεῶν ἃς Μούσας ὠνόμαζον. ὓστερον δὲ καὶ καθʼ Ἡσίοδον ἤδη μᾶλλον ἐκκαλυπτομένων τῶν δυνάμεων, διαιροῦντες εἰς καὶ εἴδη τρεῖς πάλιν ἑκάστην ἔχουσαν ἐν αὑτῇ διαφορὰς ἑώρων ὦν ἐν μὲν τῷ μαθηματικῷ τὸ περὶ μουσικήν ἐστι καὶ τὸ περὶ ἀριθμητικὴν καὶ τὸ περὶ γεωμετρίαν, ἐν τῷ φιλοσόφῳ τὸ λογικὸν καὶ τὸ ἠθικὸν καὶ τὸ φυσικόν, ἐν τῷ ῥητορικῷ τὸ ἐγκωμιαστικὸν πρῶτον γεγονέναι λέγουσι, δεύτερον τὸ συμβουλευτικόν, ἔσχατον δὲ τὸ δικανικόν. ὧν μηδὲν ἄθεον μηδʼ ἄμουσον εἶναι ἄμοιρον κρείττονος καὶ ἡγεμονίας ἀξιοῦντες, εἰκότως ἰσαρίθμους τὰς Μούσας οὐκ ἐποίησαν ἀλλʼ οὔσας ἀνεῦρον. ὥσπερ οὖν τὰ ἐννέα διαίρεσιν εἰς τρεῖς λαμβάνει τριάδας, ὧν ἑκάστη πάλιν εἰς μονάδας διαιρεῖται τοσαύτας· οὕτως ἓν μέν ἐστι καὶ κοινὸν ἡ τοῦ λόγου περὶ τὸ κύριον ὀρθότης, νενέμηνται σύντρεις εἰς τῶν τριῶν γενῶν ἕκαστον· εἶτα πάλιν αὖ μοναδικῶς ἑκάστη μίαν περιέπει λαχοῦσα καὶ κοσμεῖ δύναμιν. οὐ οἶμαι τοὺς ποιηματικοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀστρολογικοὺς ἐγκαλεῖν ἡμῖν ὡς παραλείπουσι· τὰς τέχνας αὐτῶν, εἰδότας οὐδὲν ἧττον ἡμῶν ἀστρολογίαν γεωμετρίᾳ ποιητικὴν δὲ μουσικῇ συννεμομένην.
14.4. As soon as he had said this, Trypho the physician subjoined: How hath our art offended you, that you have shut the Museum against us? And Dionysius of Melite added: Sir, you have a great many that will side with you in the accusation; for we farmers think Thalia to be ours, assigning her the care of springing and budding seeds and plants. But I interposing said: Your accusation is not just; for you have bountiful Ceres, and Bacchus who (as Pindar phraseth it) increaseth the trees, the chaste beauty of the fruits; and we know that Aesculapius is the patron of the physicians, and they make their address to Apollo as Paean, but never as the Muses’ chief. All men (as Homer says) stand in need of the Gods, but all stand not in need of all. But I wonder Lamprias did not mind what the Delphians say in this matter; for they affirm that the Muses amongst them were not named so either from the strings or sounds in music; but the universe being divided into three parts, the first portion was of the fixed stars, the second of the planets, the third of those things that are under the concave of the moon; and all these are ordered according to harmonical proportions, and of each portion a Muse takes care; Hypate of the first, Nete of the last, and Mese in the middle, combining as much as possible, and turning about mortal things with the Gods, and earthly with heavenly. And Plato intimates the same thing under the names of the Fates, calling one Atropos, the other Lachesis, and the other Clotho. For he committed the revolutions of the eight spheres to so many Sirens, and not Muses.
14.4. ὡς δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐρρήθη, τοῦ ἰατροῦ Τρύφωνος εἰπόντος τῇ δʼ, ἡμετέρᾳ τέχνῃ τί παθὼν τὸ Μουσεῖον ἀποκέκλεικας; ὑπολαβὼν Διονύσιος ὁ Μελιτεὺς πολλούς ἔφη συμπαρακαλεῖς ἐπὶ τὴν κατηγορίαν· καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οἱ γεωργοὶ τὴν Θάλειαν οἰκειούμεθα,· φυτῶν καὶ σπερμάτων εὐθαλούντων καὶ βλαστανόντων ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτῇ καὶ σωτηρίαν ἀποδιδόντες. ἀλλʼ οὐ δίκαια ἔφην ἐγὼ ποιεῖτε· καὶ γὰρ ὑμῖν ἔστι Δημήτηρ ἀνησιδώρα καὶ Διόνυσοςδενδρέων νομὸν πολυγαθὴς αὐξάνων,ἁγνὸν φέγγος ὀπώραςὡς Πίνδαρός φησι· καὶ τοὺς ἰατροὺς Ἀσκληπιὸν ἔχοντας ἴσμεν ἡγεμόνα καὶ Ἀπόλλωνι Παιᾶνι χρωμένους πάντα, Μουσηγέτῃ μηθέν. πάντες γάρ ἄνθρωποι θεῶν χατέουσι καθʼ Ὅμηρον, οὐ πάντες δὲ πάντων. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο θαυμάζω, πῶς ἔλαθε Λαμπρίαν τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ Δελφῶν. λέγουσι γάρ οὐ φθόγγων οὐδὲ χορδῶν ἐπωνύμους γεγονέναι τὰς Μούσας παρʼ αὐτοῖς· ἀλλά, τοῦ κόσμου τριχῇ πάντα νενεμημένου, πρώτην μὲν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ἀπλανῶν μερίδα, δευτέραν δὲ τὴν τῶν πλανωμένων, ἐσχάτην δὲ τὴν τῶν ὑπὸ σελήνην συνηρτῆσθαι δὲ πάσας καὶ συντετάχθαι κατὰ λόγους ἐναρμονίους, ὧν ἑκάστης φύλακα Μοῦσαν εἶναι, τῆς μὲν πρώτης ὑπάτην τῆς δʼ ἐσχάτης Νεάτην, Μέσην δὲ τὴν μεταξὺ συνέχουσαν ἅμα καὶ συνεπιστρέφουσαν, ὡς ἀνυστὸν ἐστι, τὰ θνητὰ τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ τὰ περίγεια τοῖς οὐρανίοις· ὡς καὶ Πλάτων ᾐνίξατο τοῖς τῶν Μοιρῶν ὀνόμασι τὴν μὲν Ἄτροπον τὴν δὲ Κλωθὼ τὴν δὲ Λάχεσιν προσαγορεύσας· ἐπεὶ ταῖς γε τῶν ὀκτὼ σφαιρῶν περιφοραῖς Σειρῆνας οὐ Μούσας ἰσαρίθμους ἐπέστησεν.
14.5. Then Menephylus the Peripatetic subjoined: The Delphians’ opinion hath indeed somewhat of probability in it; but Plato is absurd in committing the eternal and divine revolutions not to the Muses but to the Sirens, Daemons that neither love nor are benevolent to mankind, wholly passing by the Muses, or calling them by the names of the Fates, the daughters of Necessity. For Necessity is averse to the Muses; but Persuasion being more agreeable and better acquainted with them, in my opinion, than the grace of Empedocles, “Intolerable Necessity abhors.”
14.5. ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Μενέφυλος ὁ Περιπατητικὸς τὰ μὲν Δελφῶν εἶπεν ἁμωσγέπως μετέχει πιθανότητος· ὁ δὲ Πλάτων ἄτοπος, ταῖς μὲν ἀιδίοις καὶ θείαις περιφοραῖς ἀντὶ τῶν Μουσῶν τὰς Σειρῆνας ἐνιδρύων, οὐ πάνυ φιλανθρώπους οὐδὲ χρηστὰς δαίμονας· τὰς δὲ Μούσας ἢ παραλείπων παντάπασιν ἢ τοῖς τῶν Μοιρῶν ὀνόμασι προσαγορεύων καὶ καλῶν θυγατέρας Ἀνάγκης. ἄμουσον γὰρ ἡ Ἀνάγκη μουσικὸν δʼ ἡ Πειθώ, καὶ Μούσαις φιλοδαμοῦσα πολὺ μᾶλλον οἶμαι τῆς Ἐμπεδοκλέους Χάριτοςστυγέει δύστλητον ἀνάγκην.
14.6. No doubt, said Ammonius, as it is in us a violent and involuntary cause; but in the Gods Necessity is not intolerable, uncontrollable, or violent, unless it be to the wicked: as the law in a commonwealth to the best men is its best good, not to be violated or transgressed, not because they have no power, but because they have no will, to change it. And Homer’s Sirens give us no just reason to be afraid; for he in that fable rightly intimates the power of their music not to be hurtful to man, but delightfully charming, and detaining the souls which pass from hence thither and wander after death; working in them a love for divine and heavenly things, and a forgetfulness of every thing on earth; and they extremely pleased follow and attend them. And from thence some imperfect sound, and as it were echo of that music, coming to us by the means of reason and good precepts, rouseth our souls, and restores the notice of those things to our minds, the greatest part of which lie encumbered with and entangled in disturbances of the flesh and distracting passions. But the generous soul hears and remembers, and her affection for those pleasures riseth up to the most ardent passion, whilst she eagerly desires but is not able to free herself from the body. It is true, I do not approve what he says; but Plato seems to me, as he hath strangely and unaccountably called the axes spindles and distaffs, and the stars whirls, so to have named the Muses Sirens, as delivering divine things to the ghosts below, as Ulysses in Sophocles says of the Sirens,I next to Phorcus’s daughters came,Who fix the sullen laws below.Eight of the Muses take care of the spheres, and one of all about the earth. The eight who govern the motions of the spheres maintain the harmony of the planets with the fixed stars and one another. But that one who looks after the place betwixt the earth and moon and takes care of mortal things, by means of speech and song introduceth persuasion, assisting our natural consent to community and agreement, and giveth men as much harmony, grace, and order as is possible for them to receive; introducing this persuasion to smooth and quiet our disturbances, and as it were to recall our wandering desires out of the wrong way, and to set us in the right path. But, as Pindar says,Whom Jove abhors, he starts to hearThe Muses sounding in his ear.
14.6. πάνυ μὲν οὖν ὁ Ἀμμώνιος ἔφη τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀκούσιον αἰτίαν καὶ ἀπροαίρετον ἡ δʼ ἐν θεοῖς ἀνάγκη δύστλητος οὔκ ἐστʼ οἶμαι δʼ οὐδὲ δυσπειθὴς οὐδὲ βιαία, πλὴν τοῖς κακοῖς, ὥς ἐστι νόμος ἐν πόλει τοῖς βελτίστοις τὸ βέλτιστον αὐτῆς, ἀπαράτρεπτον καὶ ἀπαράβατον οὐ τῷ μὲν ἀδυνάτῳ τῷ δʼ ἀβουλήτῳ τῆς μεταβολῆς. αἵ γε μὲν δὴ Ὁμήρου Σειρῆνες οὐ κατὰ λόγον ἡμᾶς; τῷ μύθῳ φοβοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνος ὀρθῶς ᾐνίττετο τὴν τῆς μουσικῆς αὐτῶν δύναμιν οὐκ ἀπάνθρωπον οὐδʼ ὀλέθριον οὖσαν ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἀπιούσαις ἐκεῖ ψυχαῖς, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ πλανωμέναις μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν ἔρωτα πρὸς τὰ οὐράνια καὶ θεῖα λήθην δὲ τῶν θνητῶν ἐμποιοῦσαν κατέχειν καὶ κατᾴδειν θελγομένας· αἱ δʼ ὑπὸ χαρᾶς ἕπονται καὶ συμπεριπολοῦσιν. ἐνταῦθα δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀμυδρά τις οἷον ἠχὼ τῆς μουσικῆς ἐκείνης ἐξικνουμένη διὰ λόγων ἐκκαλεῖται καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκει τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν τότε· τὰ δʼ ὦτα τῶν μὲν πλείστων περιαλήλιπται καὶ καταπέπλασται σαρκίνοις ἐμφράγμασι καὶ πάθεσιν, οὐ κηρίνοις· ἣ δὲ διʼ εὐφυΐαν αἰσθάνεται καὶ μνημονεύει, καὶ τῶν ἐμμανεστάτων ἐρώτων οὐδὲν ἀποδεῖ τὸ πάθος αὐτῆς, γλιχομένης καὶ ποθούσης λῦσαί τε μὴ δυναμένης ἑαυτὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος. οὐ μὴν ἔγωγε παντάπασι συμφέρομαι τούτοις· ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖ Πλάτων ὡς ἀτράκτους καὶ ἠλακάτας τοὺς ἄξονας, σφονδύλους δὲ τοὺς ἀστέρας, ἐξηλλαγμένως ἐνταῦθα καὶ τὰς Μούσας Σειρῆνας ὀνομάζειν εἰρούσας τὰ θεῖα καὶ λεγούσας ἐν Ἅιδου, καθάπερ Σοφοκλέους Ὀδυσσεὺς φησι Σειρῆνας εἰσαφικέσθαι Φόρκου κόρας, θροοῦντε τοὺς Ἅιδου νόμους Μοῦσαι δʼ εἰσὶν ὀκτὼ καὶ συμπεριπολοῦσι ταῖς ὀκτὼ σφαίραις, μία δὲ τὸν περὶ γῆν εἴληχε τόπον. αἱ μὲν οὖν ὀκτὼ περιόδοις ἐφεστῶσαι τὴν τῶν πλανωμένων ἄστρων πρὸς τὰ ἀπλανῆ καὶ πρὸς ἄλληλα συνέχουσι καὶ διασῴζουσιν ἁρμονίαν· μία δὲ τὸν μεταξὺ γῆς καὶ σελήνης τόπον ἐπισκοποῦσα καὶ περιπολοῦσα, τοῖς θνητοῖς, ὅσον αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ δέχεσθαι πέφυκε, χαρίτων καὶ ῥυθμοῦ καὶ ἁρμονίας ἐνδίδωσι, διὰ λόγου καὶ ᾠδῆς πειθὼ πολιτικῆς καὶ κοινωνητικῆς συνεργὸν ἐπάγουσα παραμυθουμένην καὶ κηλοῦσαν ἡμῶν τὸ ταραχῶδες καὶ τὸ πλανώμενον ὥσπερ ἐξ ἀνοδίας ἀνακαλουμένην ἐπιεικῶς καὶ καθιστᾶσαν.ὅσσα δὲ μὴ πεφίληκεΖεύς, ἀτύζονται βοὰνΠιερίδων ἀίοντακατὰ Πίνδαρον.
14.7. To this discourse Ammonius, as he used to do, subjoined that verse of Xenophanes, “This fine discourse seems near allied to truth,” and desired every one to deliver his opinion. And I, after a short silence, said: As Plato thinks by the name, as it were by tracks, to discover the powers of the Gods, so let us place in heaven and over heavenly things one of the Muses, Urania. And it is likely that those require no distracting variety of cares to govern them, since they have the same single nature for the cause of all their motions. But where are a great many irregularities and disorders, there we must place the eight Muses, that we may have one to correct each particular irregularity and miscarriage. There are two parts in a man’s life, the serious and the merry; and each must be regulated and methodized. The serious part, which instructs us in the knowledge and contemplation of the Gods, Calliope, Clio, and Thalia seem chiefly to look after and direct. The other Muses govern our weak part, which changes presently into wantonness and folly; they do not neglect our brutish and violent passions and let them run their own course, but by apposite dancing, music, song, and orderly motion mixed with reason, bring them down to a moderate temper and condition. For my part, since Plato admits two principles of every action, the natural desire after pleasure, and acquired opinion which covets and wishes for the best, and calls one reason and the other passion, and since each of these is manifold, I think that each requires a considerable and, to speak the truth, a divine direction. For instance, one faculty of our reason is said to be political or imperial, over which Hesiod says Calliope presides; Clio’s province is the noble and aspiring; and Polymnia’s that faculty of the soul which inclines to attain and keep knowledge (and therefore the Sicyonians call one of their three Muses Polymathia); to Euterpe everybody allows the searches into nature and physical speculations, there being no greater, no sincerer pleasure belonging to any other sort of speculation in the world. The natural desire to meat and drink Thalia reduceth from brutish and uncivil to be sociable and friendly; and therefore we say θαλιάζειν of those that are friendly, merry, and sociable over their cups, and not of those that are quarrelsome and mad. Erato, together with Persuasion, that brings along with it reason and opportunity, presides over marriages; she takes away and extinguisheth all the violent fury of pleasure, and makes it tend to friendship, mutual confidence, and endearment, and not to effeminacy, lust, or discontent. The delight which the eye or ear receives is a sort of pleasure, either appropriate to reason or to passion, or common to them both. This the two other Muses, Terpsichore and Melpomene, so moderate, that the one may only cheer and not charm, the other only please and not bewitch.
14.7. τούτοις ἐπιφωνήσαντος τοῦ Ἀμμωνίου τὰ τοῦ Ξενοφάνους ὥσπερ εἰώθει ταῦτα δεδοξάσθαι μὲν ἐοικότα τοῖς ἐτύμοισι καὶ παρακαλοῦντος ἀποφαίνεσθαι καὶ λέγειν τὸ δοκοῦν ἕκαστον, ἐγὼ μικρὸν διασιωπήσας ἔφην ὅτι καὶ Πλάτων αὐτὸς ὥσπερ ἴχνεσι τοῖς ὀνόμασι τῶν θεῶν ἀνευρίσκειν οἴεται τὰς δυνάμεις· καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοίως μὲν τιθῶμεν ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ περὶ τὰ οὐράνια μίαν τῶν Μουσῶν·, ἣ Οὐρανία φαίνεται· καὶ εἰκὸς ἐκεῖνα μὴ πολλῆς μηδὲ ποικίλης κυβερνήσεως δεῖσθαι, μίαν ἔχοντα καὶ ἁπλῆν αἴτιον φύσιν· ὅπου δὲ πολλαὶ πλημμέλειαι πολλαὶ δʼ ἀμετρίαι καὶ παραβάσεις, ἐνταῦθα τὰς ὀκτὼ μετοικιστέον, ἄλλην ἄλλο κακίας καὶ ἀναρμοστίας εἶδος ἐπανορθουμένας. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦ βίου τὸ μὲν σπουδῇ τὸ δὲ παιδιᾷ μέρος ἐστί, καὶ δεῖται τοῦ μουσικῶς καὶ μετρίως, τὸ μὲν σπουδάζον ἡμῶν ἥ τε Καλλιόπη καὶ ἡ Κλειὼ καὶ ἡ Θάλεια, τῆς περὶ θεοὺς ἐπιστήμης καὶ θέας ἡγεμὼν οὖσα, δόξουσιν ἐπιστρέφειν καὶ συγκατορθοῦν· αἱ δὲ λοιπαὶ τὸ μεταβάλλον ἐφʼ ἡδονὴν καὶ παιδιὰν ὑπʼ ἀσθενείας μὴ περιορᾶν ἀνιέμενον ἀκολάστως καὶ θηριωδῶς, ἀλλʼ ὀρχήσει καὶ ᾠδῇ καὶ χορείᾳ ῥυθμὸν ἐχούσῃ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ καὶ λόγῳ κεραννύμενον εὐσχημόνως καὶ κοσμίως ἐκδέχεσθαι καὶ παραπέμπειν. ἐγὼ μέντοι, τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἐν ἑκάστῳ δύο πράξεων ἀπολείποντος ἀρχάς, τὴν μὲν ἔμφυτον ἐπιθυμίαν ἡδονῶν τὴν δʼ ἐπείσακτον δόξαν ἐφιεμένην τοῦ ἀρίστου, καὶ τὸ μὲν λόγον τὸ δὲ πάθος ἔστιν ὅτε καλοῦντος, ἑτέρας δʼ αὖ πάλιν τούτων ἑκατέρου διαφορὰς ἔχοντος, ἑκάστην ὁρῶ μεγάλης καὶ θείας ὡς ἀληθῶς παιδαγωγίας δεομένην. αὐτίκα τοῦ λόγου τὸ μέν ἐστι πολιτικὸν καὶ βασιλικόν, ἐφʼ ᾧ τὴν Καλλιόπην τετάχθαι φησὶν ὁ Ἡσίοδος· τὸ φιλότιμον δʼ ἡ Κλειὼ μάλιστα κυδαίνειν καὶ συνεπιγαυροῦν εἴληχεν ἡ δὲ Πολύμνια τοῦ φιλομαθοῦς ἐστι καὶ μνημονικοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς· διὸ καὶ Σικυώνιοι τῶν τριῶν Μουσῶν μίαν Πολυμάθειαν καλοῦσιν. Εὐτέρπῃ δὲ πᾶς ἄν τις ἀποδοίη τὸ θεωρητικὸν τῆς περὶ φύσιν ἀληθείας, οὔτε καθαρωτέρας οὔτε καλλίους ἑτέρῳ γένει παραλιπὼν εὐπαθείας καὶ τέρψεις. τῆς δʼ ἐπιθυμίας τὸ μὲν περὶ ἐδωδὴν καὶ πόσιν ἡ Θάλεια κοινωνητικὸν ποιεῖ καὶ συμποτικὸν ἐξ ἀπανθρώπου καὶ θηριώδους· διὸ τοὺς φιλοφρόνως καὶ ἱλαρῶς συνόντας ἀλλήλοις ἐν οἴνῳ θαλιάζειν λέγομεν, οὐ τοὺς ὑβρίζοντας καὶ παροινοῦντας· ταῖς δὲ περὶ συνουσίαν σπουδαῖς ἡ Ἐρατὼ παροῦσα μετὰ πειθοῦς λόγον ἐχούσης καὶ καιρὸν ἐξαιρεῖ καὶ κατασβέννυσι τὸ μανικὸν τῆς ἡδονῆς καὶ οἰστρῶδες, εἰς φιλίαν καὶ πίστιν οὐχ ὕβριν οὐδʼ ἀκολασίαν τελευτώσης. οἵδε καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν ἡδονήν, εἶδος εἴτε τῷ λόγῳ μᾶλλον εἴτε τῷ πάθει προσῆκον εἴτε κοινὸν ἀμφοῖν ἐστιν, αἱ λοιπαὶ δύο, Μελπομένη καὶ Τερψιχόρη, παραλαβοῦσαι κοσμοῦσιν· ὥστε τὴν μὲν εὐφροσύνην μὴ κήλησιν εἶναι, τὸ δὲ μὴ γοητείαν ἀλλὰ τέρψιν.
15.1. AFTER this, a match of dancing was proposed, and a cake was the prize. The judges were Meniscus the dancing-master, and my brother Lamprias; for he danced the Pyrrhic very well, and in the Palaestra none could match him for the graceful motion of his hands and arms in dancing. Now a great many dancing with more heat than art, some desired two of the company who seemed to be best skilled and took most care to observe their steps, to dance in the style called φορὰν παρὰ φοράν. Upon this Thrasybulus, the son of Ammonius, demanded what φορά signified, and gave Ammonius occasion to run over most of the parts of dancing.
15.1. ἐκ τούτου πυραμοῦντος ἐπῆραν τουτʼ ἐσπᾶσι νικητήριον ὀρχήσεως· ἀπεδείχθη δὲ κριτὴς μετὰ Μενίσκου τοῦ παιδοτρίβου Λαμπρίας ὁ ἀδελφός· ὠρχήσατο γὰρ πιθανῶς τὴν πυρρίχην καὶ χειρονομῶν ἐν ταῖς παλαίστραις ἐδόκει διαφέρειν τῶν παίδων. ὀρχουμένων δὲ πολλῶν προθυμότερον ἢ μουσικώτερον, δύο τοὺς εὐδοκίμους καὶ βουλομένους ἀνασῴζειν τὴν ἐμμέλειαν ἠξίουν τινὲς ὀρχεῖσθαι φορὰν παρὰ φοράν. ἐπεζήτησεν οὖν ὁ Θρασύβουλος Ἀμμωνίου τί βούλεται τοὔνομα τῆς φορᾶς, καὶ παρέσχε τῷ Ἀμμωνίῳ περὶ τῶν μερῶν τῆς ὀρχήσεως πλείονα διελθεῖν.
15.2. He said they were three,—φορά, σχῆμα, and δεῖξις. For dancing is made up of motion and manner (σχέσις), as a song of sounds and stops; stops are the ends of motion. Now the motions they call φοραί, and the gestures and likeness to which the motions tend, and in which they end, they call σχήματα: as, for instance, when by their own motions they represent the figure of Apollo, Pan, or any of the raging Bacchae. The third, δεῖξις, is not an imitation, but a plain downright indication of the things represented. For the poets, when they would speak of Achilles, Ulysses, the earth, or heaven, use their proper names, and such as the vulgar usually understand. But for the more lively representation, they use words which by their very sound express some eminent quality in the thing, or metaphors; as when they say that streams do “babble and flash;” that arrows fly “desirous the flesh to wound;” or when they describe an equal battle by saying “the fight had equal heads.” They have likewise a great many significative compositions in their verses. Thus Euripides of Perseus, “He that Medusa slew, and flies in air;” and Pindar of a horse,When by the smooth Alpheus’ banksHe ran the race, and never felt the spur;and Homer of a race,The chariots, overlaid with tin and brass,By fiery horses drawn ran swiftly on.So in dancing, the σχῆμα represents the shape and figure, the φορά shows some action, passion, or power; but by the δεῖξις are properly and significatively shown the things themselves, for instance, the heaven, earth, or the company. Which, being done in a certain order and method, resembles the proper names used in poetry, decently clothed and attended with suitable epithets. As in these lines,Themis the venerable and admired,And Venus beauteous with her bending brows,Dione fair, and Juno crowned with gold.And in these,From Hellen kings renowned for giving laws,Great Dorus and the mighty Xuthus, sprang,And Aeolus, whose chief delight was horse.For if poets did not take this liberty, how mean, how grovelling and flat, would be their verse! As suppose they wrote thus,From this came Hercules, from the other Iphitus.Her father, husband, and her son were kings, Her brother and forefathers were the same;And she in Greece was called Olympias.The same faults may be committed in that sort of dancing called δεῖξις, unless the representation be lifelike and graceful, decent and unaffected. And, in short, we may aptly transfer what Simonides said of painting to dancing, and call dancing mute poetry, and poetry speaking dancing; for poesy doth not properly belong to painting, nor painting to poesy, neither do they any way make use of one another. But poesy and dancing have much in common, especially in that sort of song called Hyporchema, in which is the most lively representation imaginable, dancing doing it by gesture, and poesy by words. So that poesy may bear some resemblance to the colors in painting, while dancing is like the lines which mark out the features of the face. And therefore he who was the most famous writer of Hyporchemes, who here even outdid himself, sufficiently evidenceth that these two arts stand in need of one another. For, whilst he sings these songs, … he shows what tendency poetry hath to dancing; whilst the sound excites the hands and feet, or rather as it were by some cords distends and raiseth every member of the whole body; so that, whilst such songs are pronounced or sung, they cannot be quiet. But now-a-days no sort of exercise hath such bad depraved music applied to it as dancing; and so it suffers that which Ibycus as to his own concerns was fearful of, as appears by these lines,I fear lest, losing fame amongst the Gods,I shall receive respect from men alone.For having associated to itself a mean paltry sort of music, and falling from that divine sort of poetry with which it was formerly acquainted, it rules now and domineers amongst foolish and inconsiderate spectators, like a tyrant, it hath subjected nearly the whole of music, but hath lost all its honor with excellent and wise men. These, my Sossius Senecio, were almost the last discourses which we had at Ammonius’s house during the festival of the Muses.
15.2. ἔφη δὲ τρία εἶναι, τὴν φορὰν καὶ τὸ σχῆμα καὶ τὴν δεῖξιν. ἡ γὰρ ὄρχησις ἔκ τε κινήσεων καὶ σχέσεων συνέστηκεν, ὡς τὸ μέλος τῶν φθόγγων καὶ τῶν διαστημάτων ἐνταῦθα δʼ αἱ μοναὶ πέρατα τῶν κινήσεών εἰσι. φορὰς μὲν οὖν τὰς κινήσεις ὀνομάζουσι, σχήματα δὲ σχέσεις καὶ διαθέσεις, εἰς ἃς φερόμεναι τελευτῶσιν αἱ κινήσεις, ὅταν Ἀπόλλωνος ἢ Πανὸς ἤ τινος Βάκχης σχῆμα διαθέντες ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος γραφικῶς τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἐπιμένωσι. τὸ δὲ τρίτον, ἡ δεῖξις, οὐ μιμητικόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ δηλωτικὸν ἀληθῶς τῶν ὑποκειμένων ὡς γὰρ οἱ ποιηταὶ τοῖς κυρίοις ὀνόμασι δεικτικῶς χρῶνται, τὸν Ἀχιλλέα καὶ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὀνομάζοντες, ὡς ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν λέγονται· πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἐμφάσεις καὶ τὰς μιμήσεις καὶ ὀνοματοποιίαις χρῶνται καὶ μεταφοραῖς, κελαρύζειν καὶ καχλάζειν τὰ κλώμενα τῶν ῥευμάτων λέγοντες, καὶ τὰ βέλη φέρεσθαι λιλαιόμενα χροὸς ἆσαι, καὶ τὴν ἰσόρροπον μάχην ἴσας ὑσμίνη κεφαλὰς, ἔχειν· πολλὰς δὲ καὶ συνθέσεις τῶν ὀνομάτων κατὰ μέλη μιμητικῶς σχηματίζουσιν, ὡς Εὐριπίδης ὁ πετόμενος ἱερὸν ἀνὰ Διὸς αἰθέρα γοργοφόνος, καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἵππου Πίνδαροςὅτε παρʼ Ἀλφεῷ σύτο δέμαςἀκέντητον ἐν δρόμοισι παρέχωνκαὶ Ὅμηρος ἐπὶ τῆς ἱπποδρομίαςἅρματα δʼ αὖ χαλκῷ πεπυκασμένα κασσιτέρῳ τεἵπποις ὠκυπόδεσσιν ἐπέτρεχον·οὕτως ἐν ὀρχήσει τὸ μὲν σχῆμα μιμητικόν ἐστι μορφῆς καὶ ἰδέας, καὶ πάλιν ἡ φορὰ πάθους τινὸς ἐμφαντικὸν ἢ πράξεως ἢ δυνάμεως· ταῖς δὲ δείξεσι κυρίως αὐτὰ δηλοῦσι τὰ πράγματα, τὴν γῆν, τὸν οὐρανόν, αὐτοὺς τοὺς πλησίον· ὃ δὴ τάξει μέν τινι καὶ ἀριθμῷ γιγνόμενον ἔοικε τοῖς ἐν ποιητικῇ κυρίοις ὀνόμασι μετά τινος κόσμου καὶ λειότητος ἐκφερομένοις, ὡς τὰ τοιαῦτακαὶ Θέμιν αἰδοίην ἑλικοβλέφαρὸν τʼ ἈφροδίτηνἭρην τε χρυσοστέφανον καλήν τε Διώνην·καὶἝλληνος δʼ ἐγένοντο θεμιστοπόλοι βασιλῆες,Δῶρός τε,Ξοῦθός τε καὶ Αἴολος ἱππιοχάρμηςεἰ δὲ μή, τοῖς ἄγαν πεζοῖς καὶ κακομέτροις, ὡς τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐγένοντο τοῦ μὲν Ἡρακλῆς τοῦ δʼ Ἴφικλος· καίτῆς δὲ πατὴρ καὶ ἀνὴρ καὶ παῖς βασιλεῖς, καὶ ἀδελφοί,καὶ πρόγονοι· κλῄζει δʼ Ἑλλὰς Ὀλυμπιάδα.τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἁμαρτάνεται καὶ περὶ τὴν ὄρχησιν ἐν ταῖς δείξεσιν, ἂν πιθανότητα μηδὲ χάριν μετʼ εὐπρεπείας καὶ ἀφελείας ἔχωσι. καὶ ὅλως ἔφη μεταθήσειν τὸ Σιμωνίδειον ἀπὸ τῆς ζωγραφίας ἐπὶ τὴν ὄρχησιν· ποίησιν γὰρ εἶναι τὴν ὄρχησιν σιωπῶσαν, καὶ φθεγγομένην ὄρχησιν πάλιν τὴν ποίησιν· ὅθεν εἶπεν οὔτε γραφικῇ μετεῖναι ποιητικῆς οὔτε ποιητικῇ γραφικῆς, οὐδὲ χρῶνται τὸ παράπαν ἀλλήλαις. ὀρχηστικῇ δὲ καὶ ποιητικῇ κοινωνία πᾶσα καὶ μέθεξις ἀλλήλων ἐστί, καὶ μάλιστα μιμούμεναι περὶ τὸ ὑπορχημάτων γένος ἐνεργὸν ἀμφότεραι τὴν διὰ τῶν σχημάτων καὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων μίμησιν ἀποτελοῦσι. δόξειε δʼ ἂν ὥσπερ ἐν γραφικῇ τὰ μὲν ποιήματα τοῖς χρώμασιν ἑοικέναι τὰ δʼ ὀρχήματα ταῖς γραμμαῖς, ὑφʼ ὧν ὁρίζεται τὰ εἴδη. δηλοῖ δʼ ὁ μάλιστα κατωρθωκέναι δόξας ἐν ὑπορχήμασι καὶ γεγονέναι πιθανώτατος ἑαυτοῦ τὸ δεῖσθαι τὴν ἑτέραν τῆς ἑτέρας τὸ γάρἀπέλαστον ἵππον ἢ κύναἈμυκλαίαν ἀγωνίῳἐλελιζόμενος ποδὶ μίμεο καμπύλον μέλος διώκων·ἢ τόοἷος ἀνὰ Δώτιον ἀνθεμόεν πεδίονπέταται θάνατον κεροέσσᾳ τεεὑρέμεν ματεύων ἐλάφῳτὰν δʼ ἐπʼ αὐχένι στρέφοισαν ἕτερον κάρα πάντʼ ἐπʼ οἶμονκαὶ τὰ ἑξῆς μονονοὺ λειόθεν τὴν ἐν ὀρχήσει διάθεσιν τὰ ποιήματα καὶ παρακαλεῖν τὼ χεῖρε καὶ τὼ πόδε, μᾶλλον δʼ ὅλον ὥσπερ τισὶ μηρίνθοις ἕλκειν τὸ σῶμα τοῖς μέλεσι καὶ ἐντείνειν, τούτων δὲ λεγομένων καὶ ᾀδομένων, ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν μὴ δυναμένοις. αὐτὸς γοῦν ἑαυτὸν οὐκ αἰσχύνεται περὶ τὴν ὄρχησιν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τὴν ποίησιν ἐγκωμιάζων, ὅταν δὲ γηρῶσαι νῦνἐλαφρὸν ὄρχημʼ ἀοιδᾷ ποδῶν μιγνύμεν,Κρῆτα μιν καλέοισι τρόπον.ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν οὕτως τὸ νῦν ἀπολέλαυκε τῆς κακομουσίας ὡς ἡ ὄρχησις. διὸ καὶ πέπονθεν ὃ φοβηθεὶς Ἴβυκος ἐποίησεδέδοικα μή τι πὰρ θεοῖςἀμπλακὼν τιμὰν πρὸς ἀνθρώπων ἀμείψω.καὶ γὰρ αὕτη καὶ πάνδημόν τινα ποιητικὴν προσεταιρισαμένη τῆς δʼ οὐρανίας ἐκπεσοῦσʼ ἐκείνης τῶν μὲν ἐμπλήκτων καὶ ἀνοήτων κρατεῖ θεάτρων, ὥσπερ τύραννος ὑπήκοον ἑαυτῇ πεποιημένη μουσικὴν ὀλίγου δεῖν ἅπασαν, τὴν δὲ παρὰ τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσι καὶ θείοις ἀνδράσιν ὡς ἀληθῶς τιμὴν ἀπολώλεκε. ταῦτα σχεδόν, ὦ Σόσσιε Σενεκίων, τελευταῖα τῶν ἐν τοῖς Μουσείοις τότε παρʼ Ἀμμωνίῳ τῷ ἀγαθῷ φιλολογηθέντων.