1. THE wife of Phocion the just was always wont to maintain that her chiefest glory consisted in the warlike achievements of her husband. For my part, I am of opinion that all my glory, not only that peculiar to myself, but also what is common to all my familiar friends and relations, flows from the care and diligence of my master that taught me learning. For the most renowned performances of great commanders tend only to the preservation of some few private soldiers or the safety of a single city or nation, but make neither the soldiers nor the citizens nor the people any thing the better. But true learning, being the essence and body of felicity and the source of prudence, we find to be profitable and beneficial, not only to one house or city or nation, but to all the race of men. Therefore by how much the more the benefit and advantage of learning transcends the profits of military performances, by so much the more is it to be remembered and mentioned, as most worthy your study and esteem.
1. ἡ μὲν Φωκίωνος τοῦ χρηστοῦ γυνὴ κόσμον αὑτῆς ἔλεγεν εἶναι τὰ Φωκίωνος στρατηγήματα· ἐγὼ δὲ κόσμον ἐμὸν οὐ μόνον ἴδιον, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ κοινὸν τῶν οἰκείων πάντων ἡγοῦμαι τὴν τοῦ ἐμοῦ διδασκάλου περὶ λόγους σπουδήν. τῶν μὲν γὰρ στρατηγῶν τὰ ἐπιφανέστατα κατορθώματα σωτηρίας μόνον οἴδαμεν τῆς ἐκ τῶν παραχρῆμα κινδύνων αἴτια γιγνόμενα στρατιώταις ὀλίγοις ἢ πόλει μιᾷ ἢ κἂν ἑνί τινι ἔθνει, βελτίους δʼ οὐδαμῶς ποιοῦντα οὔτε τοὺς στρατιώτας οὔτε τοὺς πολίτας, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς· τὴν δὲ παιδείαν, οὐσίαν εὐδαιμονίας οὖσαν αἰτίαν τʼ εὐβουλίας, οὐ μόνον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἢ οἴκῳ ἢ πόλει ἢ ἔθνει χρησίμην, ἀλλὰ παντὶ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει. ὅσῳ οὖν ἡ ἐκ παιδείας ὠφέλεια μείζων πάντων στρατηγημάτων, τοσούτῳ καὶ ἡ περὶ αὐτῆς μνήμη ἀξία σπουδῆς.
2. For this reason, upon the second day of the Saturnalian festival, the famous Onesicrates invited certain persons, the best skilled in music, to a banquet; by name Soterichus of Alexandria, and Lysias, one of those to whom he gave a yearly pension. After all had done and the table was cleared,—To dive, said he, most worthy friends, into the nature and reason of the human voice is not an argument proper for this merry meeting, as being a subject that requires a more sober scrutiny. But because our chiefest grammarians define the voice to be a percussion of the air made sensible to the ear, and for that we were yesterday discoursing of Grammar,—which is an art that can give the voice form and shape by means of letters, and store it up in the memory as a magazine,—let us consider what is the next science to this which may be said to relate to the voice. In my opinion, it must be music. For it is one of the chiefest and most religious duties belonging to man, to celebrate the praise of the Gods, who gave to him alone the most excelling advantage of articulate discourse, as Homer has observed in the following verses:—With sacred hymns and songs that sweetly please,The Grecian youth all day the Gods appease;Their lofty paeans bright Apollo hears,And still the charming sounds delight his ears. Now then, you that are of the grand musical chorus, tell your friends, who was the first that brought music into use; what time has added for the advantage of the science; who have been the most famous of its professors; and lastly, for what and how far it may be beneficial to mankind.
2. τῇ γοῦν δευτέρᾳ τῶν Κρονίων ἡμέρᾳ ὁ καλὸς Ὀνησικράτης ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίασιν ἄνδρας μουσικῆς; ἐπιστήμονας παρακεκλήκει· ἦσαν δὲ Σωτήριχος Ἀλεξανδρεὺς καὶ Λυσίας, εἷς τις τῶν σύνταξιν παρʼ αὐτοῦ λαμβανόντων. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ νομιζόμενα συντετέλεστο τὸ μὲν αἴτιον τῆς ἀνθρώπου φωνῆς ἔφη ὅ τί πότʼ ἐστιν, ὦ ἑταῖροι, νῦν ἐπιζητεῖν οὐ συμποτικόν· σχολῆς γὰρ νηφαλιωτέρας δεῖται τὸ θεώρημα· ἐπεὶ δʼ ὁρίζονται τὴν φωνὴν οἱ ἄριστοι γραμματικοὶ ἀέρα πεπληγμένον αἰσθητὸν ἀκοῇ, ἐτυγχάνομέν τε χθὲς ἐζητηκότες περὶ γραμματικῆς, ὡς τέχνης ἐπιτηδείου γράμμασι τὰς φωνὰς δημιουργεῖν καὶ ταμιεύειν τῇ ἀναμνήσει, ἴδωμεν τίς μετὰ ταύτην δευτέρα πρέπουσα φωνῇ ἐπιστήμη. οἶμαι δʼ ὅτι μουσική. ὑμνεῖν γὰρ εὐσεβὲς καὶ προηγούμενον ἀνθρώποις τοὺς χαρισαμένους αὐτοῖς μόνοις τὴν ἔναρθρον φωνὴν θεούς· τοῦτο δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρος ἐπεσημήνατο ἐν οἷς λέγειοἱ δὲ πανημέριοι μολπῇ θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο,καλὸν ἀείδοντες παιήονα, κοῦροι Ἀχαιῶν,μέλποντες Ἑκάεργον· ὁ δὲ φρένα τέρπετʼ ἀκούων.ἄγε δή, ὦ μουσικῆς θιασῶται, τίς πρῶτος ἐχρήσατο μουσικῇ, ἀναμνήσατε τοὺς ἑταίρους, καὶ τί εὗρε πρὸς αὔξησιν ταύτης ὁ χρόνος καί τίνες εὐδόκιμοι γεγόνασι τῶν τὴν μουσικὴν ἐπιστήμην μεταχειρισαμένων ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ εἰς πόσα καὶ εἰς τίνα χρήσιμον τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα. ταῦτα μὲν εἶπεν ὁ διδάσκαλος.
3. This the scholar propounded; to which Lysias made reply. Noble Onesicrates, said he, you desire the solution of a hard question, that has been by many already proposed. For of the Platonics the most, of the Peripatetic philosophers the best, have made it their business to compile several treatises concerning the ancient music and the reasons why it came to lose its pristine perfection. Nay, the very grammarians and musicians themselves who arrived to the height of education have expended much time and study upon the same subject, whence has arisen great variety of discording opinions among the several writers. Heraclides in his Compendium of Music asserts, that Amphion, the son of Jupiter and Antiope, was the first that invented playing on the harp and lyric poesy, being first instructed by his father; which is confirmed by a small manuscript, preserved in the city of Sicyon, wherein is set down a catalogue of the priests, poets, and musicians of Argos. In the same age, he tells us, Linus the Euboean composed several elegies; Anthes of Anthedon in Boeotia was the first author of hymns, and Pierus of Pieria the first that wrote in the praise of the Muses. Philammon also, the Delphian, set forth in verse a poem in honor of the nativity of Latona, Diana, and Apollo, and was the first that instituted dancing about the temple of Delphi. Thamyras, of Thracian extraction, had the best voice and the neatest manner of singing of any of his time; so that the poets feigned him to be a contender with the Muses. He is said to have described in a poem the Titans’ war against the Gods. There was also Demodocus the Corcyraean, who is said to have written the Destruction of Troy, and the Nuptials of Vulcan and Venus; and then Phemius of Ithaca composed a poem, entitled The Return of those who came back with Agamemnon from Troy. Not that any of these stories before cited were compiled in a style like prose without metre; they were rather like the poems of Stesichorus and other ancient lyric poets, who composed in heroic verse and added a musical accompaniment. The same Heraclides writes that Terpander, the first that instituted the lyric nomes, set verses of Homer as well as his own to music according to each of these nomes, and sang them at public trials of skill. He also was the first to give names to the lyric nomes. In imitation of Terpander, Clonas, an elegiac and epic poet, first instituted nomes for flute-music, and also the songs called Prosodia. And Polymnestus the Colophonian in later times used the same measure in his compositions.
3. ὁ δὲ Λυσίας ὑπολαβὼν παρὰ πολλοῖς ἔφη ἐζητημένον πρόβλημα ἐπιζητεῖς, ἀγαθὲ Ὀνησίκρατες τῶν τε γὰρ Πλατωνικῶν οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ Περιπάτου φιλοσόφων οἱ ἄριστοι περί τε τῆς ἀρχαίας μουσικῆς συντάξαι ἐσπούδασαν καὶ περὶ τῆς αὐτῇ γεγενημένης παραφθορᾶς· ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ γραμματικῶν καὶ ἁρμονικῶν οἱ ἐπʼ ἄκρον παιδείας ἐληλακότες πολλὴν σπουδὴν περὶ τοῦτο πεποίηνται. πολλὴ γοῦν ἡ τῶν συντεταχότων διαφωνία. Ἡρακλείδης δʼ ἐν τῇ Συναγωγῇ τῶν ἐν μουσικῇ τὴν κιθαρῳδίαν καὶ τὴν κιθαρῳδικὴν ποίησιν πρῶτόν φησιν Ἀμφίονα ἐπινοῆσαι τὸν Διὸς καὶ Ἀντιόπης, τοῦ πατρὸς δηλονότι διδάξαντος αὐτόν. πιστοῦται δὲ τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς ἀναγραφῆς τῆς ἐν Σικυῶνι ἀποκειμένης, διʼ ἧς τάς τε ἱερείας τὰς ἐν Ἄργει καὶ τοὺς ποιητὰς καὶ τοὺς μουσικοὺς ὀνομάζει. κατὰ δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίαν καὶ Λίνον τὸν ἐξ Εὐβοίας θρήνους πεποιηκέναι λέγει καὶ Ἄνθην τὸν ἐξ Ἀνθηδόνος τῆς Βοιωτίας ὕμνους καὶ Πίερον τὸν ἐκ Πιερίας τὰ περὶ τὰς Μούσας ποιήματα· ἀλλὰ καὶ Φιλάμμωνα τὸν Δελφὸν Λητοῦς τε καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος γένεσιν δηλῶσαι ἐν μέλεσι καὶ χοροὺς πρῶτον περὶ τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἱερὸν στῆσαι· Θάμυριν δὲ τὸ γένος Θρᾷκα εὐφωνότερον καὶ ἐμμελέστερον πάντων τῶν τότε ᾆσαι, ὡς ταῖς; Μούσαις, κατὰ τοὺς ποιητάς, εἰς ἀγῶνα καταστῆναι· πεποιηκέναι δὲ τοῦτον ἱστορεῖται Τιτάνων πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς πόλεμον γεγονέναι δὲ καὶ Δημόδοκον Κερκυραῖον παλαιὸν μουσικόν, ὃν πεποιηκέναι Ἰλίου τε πόρθησιν καὶ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Ἡφαίστου γάμον· ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Φήμιον Ἰθακήσιον νόστον τῶν ἀπὸ Τροίας μετʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἀνακομισθέντων ποιῆσαι. οὐ λελυμένην δʼ εἶναι τῶν προειρημένων τὴν τῶν ποιημάτων λέξιν καὶ μέτρον οὐκ ἔχουσαν, ἀλλὰ καθάπερ Στησιχόρου τε καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων μελοποιῶν, οἳ ποιοῦντες ἔπη, τούτοις μέλη περιετίθεσαν· καὶ γὰρ τὸν Τέρπανδρον ἔφη κιθαρῳδικῶν ποιητὴν ὄντα νόμων, κατὰ νόμον ἕκαστον τοῖς ἔπεσι τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τοῖς Ὁμήρου μέλη περιτιθέντα ᾄδειν ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀποφῆναι δὲ τοῦτον λέγει ὀνόματα πρῶτον τοῖς κιθαρῳδικοῖς νόμοις· ὁμοίως δὲ Τερπάνδρῳ Κλονᾶν, τὸν πρῶτον συστησάμενον τοὺς αὐλῳδικοὺς νόμους καὶ τὰ προσόδια, ἐλεγείων τε καὶ ἐπῶν ποιητὴν γεγονέναι· καὶ Πολύμνηστον τὸν Κολοφώνιον τὸν μετὰ τοῦτον γενόμενον τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρήσασθαι ποιήμασιν.
4. Now the measures appointed by these persons, noble Onesicrates, in reference to such songs as are to be sung to the flutes or pipes, were distinguished by these names, —Apothetus, Elegiac, Comarchius, Schoenion, Cepion, Tenedius, and Trimeles (or of three parts). To these succeeding ages added another sort, which were called Polymnastia. But the measures set down for those that played and sung to the harp, being the invention of Terpander, were much more ancient than the former. To these he gave the several appellations of Boeotian, Aeolian, Trochaean, the Acute, Cepion, Terpandrian, and Tetraoedian. And Terpander made preludes to be sung to the lyre in heroic verse. Besides, Timotheus testifies how that the lyric nomes were anciently appropriated to epic verses. For Timotheus merely intermixed the dithyrambic style with the ancient nomes in heroic measure, and thus sang them, that he might not seem to make too sudden an innovation upon the ancient music. But as for Terpander, he seems to have been the most excellent composer to the harp of his age, for he is recorded to have been four times in succession a victor at the Pythian games. And certainly he was one of the most ancient musicians in the world; for Glaucus the Italian in his treatise of the ancient poets and musicians asserts him to have lived before Archilochus, affirming him to be the second next to those that first invented wind-music.
4. οἱ δὲ νόμοι οἱ κατὰ τούτους, ἀγαθὲ Ὀνησίκρατες, αὐλῳδικοὶ ἦσαν, Ἀπόθετος, Ἔλεγοι, Κωμάρχιος, Σχοινίων, Κηπίων τε καὶ Δεῖος καὶ Τριμελής· ὑστέρῳ δὲ χρόνῳ καὶ τὰ Πολυμνάστια καλούμενα ἐξευρέθη. οἱ δὲ τῆς κιθαρῳδίας νόμοι πρότερον πολλῷ χρόνῳ τῶν αὐλῳδικῶν κατεστάθησαν ἐπὶ Τερπάνδρου· ἐκεῖνος γοῦν τοὺς κιθαρῳδικοὺς πρότερος ὠνόμασε, Βοιώτιόν τινα καὶ Αἰόλιον Τροχαῖόν τε καὶ Ὀξὺν Κηπίωνά τε καὶ Τερπάνδρειον καλῶν, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Τετραοίδιον. πεποίηται δὲ τῷ Τερπάνδρῳ καὶ προοίμια κιθαρῳδικὰ ἐν ἔπεσιν. ὅτι δʼ οἱ κιθαρῳδικοὶ νόμοι οἱ πάλαι ἐξ ἐπῶν συνίσταντο, Τιμόθεος ἐδήλωσε τοὺς γοῦν πρώτους νόμους ἐν ἔπεσι διαμιγνύων διθυραμβικὴν λέξιν ᾖδεν, ὅπως; μὴ εὐθὺς φανῇ παρανομῶν εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν μουσικήν. ἔοικε δὲ κατὰ τὴν τέχνην τὴν κιθαρῳδικὴν ὁ Τέρπανδρος διενηνοχέναι· τὰ Πύθια γὰρ τετράκις ἑξῆς νενικηκὼς ἀναγέγραπται. καὶ τοῖς χρόνοις δὲ σφόδρα παλαιός ἐστι· πρεσβύτερον γοῦν αὐτὸν Ἀρχιλόχου ἀποφαίνει Γλαῦκος ὁ ἐξ Ἰταλίας ἐν συγγράμματί τινι τῷ Περὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν τε καὶ μουσικῶν φησὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν δεύτερον γενέσθαι μετὰ τοὺς πρώτους ποιήσαντας αὐλῳδίαν.
5. Alexander in his Collections of Phrygia says, that Olympus was the first that brought into Greece the manner of touching the strings with a quill; and next to him were the Idaean Dactyli; Hyagnis was the first that sang to the pipe; after him his son Marsyas, then Olympus; that Terpander imitated Homer in his verses and Orpheus in his musical compositions; but that Orpheus never imitated any one, since in his time there were none but such as composed to the pipe, which was a manner quite different from that of Orpheus. Clonas, a composer of nomes for flute-music, and somewhat later than Terpander, as the Arcadians affirm, was born in Tegea or, as the Boeotians allege, at Thebes. After Terpander and Clonas flourished Archilochus; yet there are some writers who affirm, that Ardalus the Troezenian taught the manner of composing to wind-music before Clonas. There was also the poet Polymnestus, the son of Meles the Colophonian, who invented the Polymnestian measures. They farther write that Clonas invented the nomes Apothetus and Schoenion. Of Polymnestus mention is made by Pindar and Alcman, both lyric poets; but of several of the lyric nomes said to be instituted by Terpander they make Philammon (the ancient Delphian) author.
5. Ἀλέξανδρος δʼ ἐν τῇ Συναγωγῇ τῶν περὶ Φρυγίας κρούματα Ὄλυμπον ἔφη πρῶτον εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας κομίσαι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς Ἰδαίους Δακτύλους· Ὕαγνιν δὲ πρῶτον αὐλῆσαι, εἶτα τὸν τούτου υἱὸν Μαρσύαν, εἶτʼ Ὄλυμπον· ἐζηλωκέναι δὲ τὸν Τέρπανδρον Ὁμήρου μὲν τὰ ἔπη Ὀρφέως δὲ τὰ μέλη. ὁ δʼ Ὀρφεὺς οὐδένα φαίνεται μεμιμημένος· οὐδεὶς γάρ πω γεγένητο, εἰ μὴ οἱ τῶν αὐλῳδικῶν ποιηταί· τούτοις δὲ κατʼ οὐθὲν τὸ Ὀρφικὸν ἔργον ἔοικε. Κλονᾶς δʼ ὁ τῶν αὐλῳδικῶν νόμων ποιητής, ὁ ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον Τερπάνδρου γενόμενος, ὡς μὲν Ἀρκάδες λέγουσι, Τεγεάτης ἦν, ὡς δὲ Βοιωτοί, Θηβαῖος. μετὰ δὲ Τέρπανδρον καὶ Κλονᾶν Ἀρχίλοχος παραδίδοται γενέσθαι. ἄλλοι δέ τινες τῶν συγγραφέων Ἄρδαλόν φασι Τροιζήνιον πρότερον Κλονᾶ τὴν αὐλῳδικὴν συστήσασθαι μοῦσαν· γεγονέναι δὲ καὶ Πολύμνηστον ποιητὴν Μέλητος τοῦ Κολοφωνίου υἱόν· ὃν Πολύμνηστόν τε καὶ Πολυμνήστην νόμους ποιῆσαι. περὶ δὲ Κλονᾶ, ὅτι τὸν Ἀπόθετον νόμον καὶ Σχοινίωνα πεποιηκὼς εἴη, μνημονεύουσιν οἱ ἀναγεγραφότες· τοῦ δὲ Πολυμνήστου καὶ Πίνδαρος καὶ Ἀλκμὰν οἱ τῶν μελῶν ποιηταὶ ἐμνημόνευσαν· τινὰς δὲ τῶν νόμων τῶν κιθαρῳδικῶν τῶν ὑπὸ Τερπάνδρου πεποιημένων Φιλάμμωνά φασι τὸν ἀρχαῖον τὸν Δελφὸν συστήσασθαι.
6. Now the music appropriated to the harp, such as it was in the time of Terpander, continued in all its simplicity, till Phrynis grew into esteem. For it was not the ancient custom to make lyric poems in the present style, or to intermix measures and rhythms. For in each nome they were careful to observe its own proper pitch; whence came the expression nome (from νόμος, law), because it was unlawful to alter the pitch appointed for each one. At length, falling from their devotion to the Gods, they began to sing the verses of Homer and other poets. This is manifest by the proems of Terpander. Then for the form of the harp, it was such as Cepion, one of Terpander’s scholars, first caused to be made, and it was called the Asian harp, because the Lesbian harpers bordering upon Asia always made use of it. And it is said that Periclitus, a Lesbian by birth, was the last harper who won a prize by his skill, which he did at one of the Spartan festivals called Carneia; but he being dead, that succession of skilful musicians, which had so long continued among the Lesbians, expired. Some there are who erroneously believe that Hipponax was contemporary with Terpander, when it is plain that Hipponax lived after Periclitus.
6. τὸ δʼ ὅλον ἡ μὲν κατὰ Τέρπανδρον κιθαρῳδία καὶ μέχρι τῆς Φρύνιδος ἡλικίας παντελῶς ἁπλῆ τις οὖσα διετέλει· οὐ γὰρ ἐξῆν τὸ παλαιὸν οὕτω ποιεῖσθαι τὰς κιθαρῳδίας ὡς νῦν οὐδὲ μεταφέρειν τὰς ἁρμονίας καὶ τοὺς ῥυθμούς ἐν γὰρ τοῖς νόμοις ἑκάστῳ διετήρουν τὴν οἰκείαν τάσιν· διὸ καὶ ταύτην ἐπωνυμίαν εἶχον· νόμοι γὰρ προσηγορεύθησαν, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐξῆν παραβῆναι καθʼ ἕκαστον νενομισμένον εἶδος τῆς τάσεως. τὰ γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ὡς βούλονται ἀφοσιωσάμενοι ἐξέβαινον εὐθὺς ἐπί τε τὴν Ὁμήρου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ποίησιν· δῆλον δὲ τοῦτʼ ἐστὶ διὰ τῶν Τερπάνδρου προοιμίων. ἐποιήθη δὲ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τῆς κιθάρας πρῶτον κατὰ Κηπίωνα, τὸν Τερπάνδρου μαθητὴν ἐκλήθη δʼ Ἀσιὰς διὰ τὸ κεχρῆσθαι τοὺς Λεσβίους αὐτῇ κιθαρῳδοὺς πρὸς τῇ Ἀσίᾳ κατοικοῦντας. τελευταῖον δὲ Περίκλειτόν φασι κιθαρῳδὸν νικῆσαι ἐν Λακεδαίμονι Κάρνεια, τὸ γένος ὄντα Λέσβιον· τούτου δὲ τελευτήσαντος, τέλος λαβεῖν Λεσβίοις τὸ συνεχὲς τῆς κατὰ τὴν κιθαρῳδίαν διαδοχῆς. ἔνιοι δὲ πλανώμενοι νομίξουσι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον Τερπάνδρῳ Ἱππώνακτα γεγονέναι· φαίνεται δʼ Ἱππώνακτος καὶ Περίκλειτος ὢν πρεσβύτερος.
7. Having thus discoursed of the several nomes appropriated to the stringed as well as to the wind instruments, we will now speak something in particular concerning those peculiar to the wind instruments. First they say, that Olympus, a Phrygian player upon the flute, invented a certain nome in honor of Apollo, which he called Polycephalus, or of many heads. This Olympus, they say, was descended from the first Olympus, the scholar of Marsyas, who invented several forms of composition in honor of the Gods; and he, being a boy beloved of Marsyas, and by him taught to play upon the flute, first brought into Greece the laws of harmony. Others ascribe the Polycephalus to Crates, the scholar of Olympus; though Pratinas will have Olympus the younger to be the author of it. The Harmatian nome is also said to be invented by Olympus, the scholar of Marsyas. This Marsyas was by some said to be called Masses; which others deny, not allowing him any other name but that of Marsyas, the son of that Hyagnis who invented the art of playing upon the pipe. But that Olympus was the author of the Harmatian nome is plainly to be seen in Glaucus’s treatise of the ancient poets; and that Stesichorus of Himera imitated neither Orpheus nor Terpander nor Antilochus nor Thales, but Olympus, and that he made use of the Harmatian nome and the dactylic dance, which some rather apply to the Orthian mood, while others aver it to have been the invention of the Mysians, for that some of the ancient pipers were Mysians.
7. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς αὐλῳδικοὺς νόμους καὶ κιθαρῳδικοὺς ὁμοῦ τοὺς ἀρχαίους ἐμπεφανίκαμεν, μεταβησόμεθα ἐπὶ μόνους τοὺς αὐλῳδικούς. λέγεται γὰρ τὸν προειρημένον Ὄλυμπον, αὐλητὴν ὄντα τῶν ἐκ Φρυγίας, ποιῆσαι νόμον αὐλητικὸν εἰς Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν καλούμενον Πολυκέφαλον εἶναι δὲ τὸν Ὄλυμπον τοῦτόν φασιν ἕνα τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου Ὀλύμπου τοῦ Μαρσύου, πεποιηκότος εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς· τοὺς νόμους· οὗτος γὰρ παιδικὰ γενόμενος Μαρσύου καὶ τὴν αὔλησιν μαθὼν παρʼ αὐτοῦ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ἁρμονικοὺς ἐξήνεγκεν εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, οἷς νῦν χρῶνται οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς τῶν θεῶν. ἄλλοι δὲ Κράτητος εἶναί φασι τὸν Πολυκέφαλον νόμον, γενομένου μαθητοῦ Ὀλύμπου ὁ δὲ Πρατίνας Ὀλύμπου φησὶν εἶναι τοῦ νεωτέρου Τὸν νόμον τοῦτον. τὸν δὲ καλούμενον Ἁρμάτιον νόμον λέγεται ποιῆσαι ὁ πρῶτος Ὄλυμπος, ὁ Μαρσύου μαθητής. τὸν δὲ Μαρσύαν φασί τινες Μάσσην καλεῖσθαι· οἱ δʼ οὔ, ἀλλὰ Μαρσύαν εἶναι δʼ αὐτὸν Ὑάγνιδος υἱόν, τοῦ πρώτου εὑρόντος τὴν αὐλητικὴν τέχνην. ὅτι δʼ ἐστὶν Ὀλύμπου ὁ ἁρμάτιος νόμος, ἐκ τῆς Γλαύκου ἀναγραφῆς τῆς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν μάθοι ἄν τις, καὶ ἔτι γνοίη ὅτι Στησίχορος ὁ Ἱμεραῖος οὔτʼ Ὀρφέα οὔτε Τέρπανδρον οὔτʼ Ἀρχίλοχον οὔτε Θαλήταν ἐμιμήσατο, ἀλλʼ Ὄλυμπον, χρησάμενος τῷ ἁρματίῳ νόμῳ καὶ τῷ κατὰ δάκτυλον εἴδει, ὃ τινες ἐξ ὀρθίου νόμου φασὶν εἶναι. ἄλλοι δέ τινες ὑπὸ Μυσῶν εὑρῆσθαι τοῦτον τὸν νόμον· γεγονέναι γάρ τινας ἀρχαίους αὐλητὰς Μυσούς.
8. There was also another mood in use among the ancients, called Cradias, which Hipponax says Mimnermus always delighted in. For formerly they that played upon the flute sang also elegies at the same time set to notes. Which the description of the Panathenaea concerning the musical combat makes manifest. Among the rest, Sacadas of Argos set several odes and elegies to music, he himself being also a good flute-player and thrice a victor at the Pythian games. Of him Pindar makes mention. Now whereas in the time of Polymnestus and Sacadas there existed three musical moods, the Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian, it is said that Sacadas composed a strophe in every one of those moods, and then taught the choruses to sing the first after the Dorian manner, the second according to the Phrygian, and the third after the Lydian manner; and this nome was called Trimeres (or threefold) by reason of the shifting of the moods, although in the Sicyonian catalogue of the poets Clonas is said to be the inventor of this name.
8. καὶ ἄλλος δʼ ἐστὶν ἀρχαῖος νόμος καλούμενος; κραδίας, ὅν φησιν Ἱππῶναξ Μίμνερμον αὐλῆσαι. ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ ἐλεγεῖα μεμελοποιημένα οἱ αὐλῳδοὶ ᾖδον· τοῦτο δὲ δηλοῖ ἡ τῶν Παναθηναίων γραφὴ ἡ περὶ τοῦ μουσικοῦ ἀγῶνος. γέγονε δὲ καὶ Σακάδας Ἀργεῖος; ποιητὴς μελῶν τε καὶ ἐλεγείων μεμελοποιημένων· ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς καὶ ποιητὴς ἀγαθὸς καὶ τὰ Πύθια τρὶς νενικηκὼς ἀναγέγραπται· τούτου καὶ Πίνδαρος μνημονεύει· τόνων γοῦν τριῶν ὄντων κατὰ Πολύμνηστον καὶ Σακάδαν, τοῦ τε Δωρίου καὶ Φρυγίου καὶ Λυδίου, ἐν ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰρημένων τόνων στροφὴν ποιήσαντά φασι τὸν Σακάδαν διδάξαι ᾄδειν τὸν χορὸν Δωριστὶ μὲν τὴν πρώτην, Φρυγιστὶ δὲ τὴν δευτέραν, Λυδιστὶ δὲ τὴν τρίτην· καλεῖσθαι δὲ Τριμερῆ τὸν νόμον τοῦτον διὰ τὴν μεταβολήν. ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐν Σικυῶνι ἀναγραφῇ τῇ περὶ τῶν ποιητῶν Κλονᾶς εὑρετὴς ἀναγέγραπται τοῦ τριμεροῦς νόμου.
9. Music then received its first constitution from Terpander at Sparta. Of the second constitution, Thaletas the Gortinean, Xenodamus the Cytherean, Xenocritus the Locrian, Polymnestus the Colophonian, and Sacadas the Argive were deservedly acknowledged to be the authors. For these, having introduced the Gymnopaediae into Lacedaemon, settled the so-called Apodeixeis (or Exhibitions) among the Arcadians, and the Endymatia in Argos. Now Thaletas, Xenodamus, and Xenocritus, and their scholars, were poets that addicted themselves altogether to making of paeans; Polymnestus was all for the Orthian or military strain, and Sacadas for elegies. Others, and among the rest Pratinas, affirm Xenodamus to have been a maker of songs for dances (Hyporchemes), and not of paeans; and a tune of Xenodamus is preserved, which plainly appears to have been composed for a dance. Now that a paean differs from a song made for a dance is manifest from the poems of Pindar, who made both.
9. ἡ μὲν οὖν πρώτη κατάστασις τῶν περὶ τὴν μουσικὴν ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ, Τερπάνδρου καταστήσαντος, γεγένηται· τῆς δευτέρας δὲ Θαλήτας τε ὁ Γορτύνιος καὶ,Ξενόδαμος ὁ Κυθήριος; καὶ,Ξενόκριτος ὁ Λοκρὸς καὶ Πολύμνηστος ὁ Κολοφώνιος καὶ Σακάδας ὁ Ἀργεῖος μάλιστα αἰτίαν ἔχουσιν ἡγεμόνες γενέσθαι· τούτων γὰρ εἰσηγησαμένων τὰ περὶ τὰς γυμνοπαιδίας τὰς ἐν Λακεδαίμονι λέγεται κατασταθῆναι; τὰ περὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις τὰς ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ, τῶν τε ἐν Ἄργει τὰ ἐνδυμάτια καλούμενα. ἦσαν δʼ οἱ περὶ Θαλήταν τε καὶ Ξενόδαμον καὶ Ξενόκριτον ποιηταὶ παιάνων, οἱ δὲ περὶ Πολύμνηστον τῶν ὀρθίων καλουμένων, οἱ δὲ περὶ Σακάδαν ἐλεγείων. ἄλλοι δὲ Ξενόδαμον ὑπορχημάτων ποιητὴν γεγονέναι φασὶ καὶ οὐ παιάνων, καθάπερ Πρατίνας· καὶ αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Ξενοδάμου ἀπομνημονεύεται ᾆσμα, ὃ ἐδτι φανερῶς ὑπόρχημα. κέχρηται δὲ τῷ γένει τῆς ποιήσεως ταύτης καὶ Πίνδαρος· ὁ δὲ παιὰν ὅτι διαφορὰν ἔχει πρὸς τὰ ὑπορχήματα, τὰ Πινδάρου ποιήματα δηλώσει· γέγραφε γὰρ καὶ παιᾶνας καὶ ὑπορχήματα.
10. Polymnestus also composed nomes for flute-music; but in the Orthian nome he made use of his lyric vein, as the students in harmony declare. But in this we cannot be positive, because we have nothing of certainty concerning it from antiquity; and whether Thaletas of Crete was a composer of hymns is much doubted. For Glaucus, asserting Thaletas to be born after Archilochus, says that he imitated the odes of Archilochus, only he made them longer, and used the Paeonic and Cretic rhythm, which neither Archilochus nor Orpheus nor Terpander ever did; for Thaletas learned these from Olympus, and became a good poet besides. As for Xenocritus the Locrian from Italy, it is much questioned whether he was a maker of paeans or not, as being one that always took heroic subjects with dramatic action for his verses, for which reason some there were who called his arguments Dithyrambic. More over, Glaucus asserts Thaletas to have preceded him in time.
10. καὶ Πολύμνηστος δʼ αὐλῳδικοὺς νόμους ἐποίησεν· ἐν δὲ τῷ ὀρθίῳ νόμῳ τῇ μελοποιίᾳ κέχρηται, καθάπερ οἱ ἁρμονικοί φασιν, οὐκ ἔχομεν δʼ ἀκριβῶς εἰπεῖν· οὐ γὰρ εἰρήκασιν οἱ ἀρχαῖοί τι περὶ τούτου. καὶ περὶ Θαλήτα δὲ τοῦ Κρητός, εἰ παιάνων γεγένηται ποιητὴς, ἀμφισβητεῖται. Γλαῦκος γὰρ μετʼ Ἀρχίλοχον φάσκων γεγενῆσθαι Θαλήταν μεμιμῆσθαι μὲν αὐτόν φησι τὰ Ἀρχιλόχου μέλη, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ μακρότερον ἐκτεῖναι, καὶ Μάρωνα καὶ Κρητικὸν ῥυθμὸν εἰς τὴν μελοποιίαν ἐνθεῖναι· οἷς Ἀρχίλοχον μὴ κεχρῆσθαι, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ Ὀρφέα οὐδὲ Τέρπανδρον ἐκ γὰρ τῆς Ὀλύμπου αὐλήσεως Θαλήταν φασὶν ἐξειργάσθαι ταῦτα καὶ δόξαι ποιητὴν ἀγαθὸν γεγονέναι. περὶ δὲ Ξενοκρίτου ὃς ἦν τὸ γένος ἐκ Λοκρῶν τῶν ἐν· Ἰταλίᾳ, ἀμφισβητεῖται εἰ παιάνων ποιητὴς γέγονεν· ἡρωϊκῶν γὰρ ὑποθέσεων πράγματα ἐχουσῶν ποιητὴν γεγονέναι φασὶν αὐτόν· διὸ καί τινας διθυράμβους καλεῖν αὐτοῦ τὰς ὑποθέσεις· πρεσβύτερον δὲ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ φησὶν ὁ Γλαῦκος Θαλήταν Ξενοκρίτου γεγονέναι.
11. Olympus, by the report of Aristoxenus, is supposed by the musicians to have been the inventor of the enharmonic species of music; for before him there was no other than the diatonic and chromatic. And it is thought that the invention of the enharmonic species was thus brought to pass: for that Olympus before altogether composing and playing in the diatonic species, and having frequent occasion to shift to the diatonic parhypate, sometimes from the paramese and sometimes from the mese, skipping the diatonic lichanos, he found the beauty that appeared in the new character; and thus, admiring a conjunction or scheme so agreeable to proportion, he made this new species in the Doric mood. For now he held no longer to what belonged either to the diatonic or to the chromatic, but he was already come to the enharmonic. And the first foundations of enharmonic music which he laid were these: in enharmonics the first thing that appears is the spondiasmus, to which none of the divisions of the tetrachord seems properly to belong, unless any one will take the more intense spondiasmus to be diatonic. But he that maintained this would maintain a falsehood and an absurdity in harmony; a falsehood, because it would be less by a diesis than is required by the leading note; an absurdity in harmony, because, even if we should place the proper nature of the more intense spondiasmus in the simple chromatic, it would then come to pass, that two double tones would follow in order, the one compounded, the other uncompounded. For the thick enharmonic now used in the middle notes does not seem to be the invention of the fore-mentioned author. But this is more easily understood by hearing any musician play in the ancient style; for then you shall find the semi-tone in the middle parts to be uncompounded. These were the beginnings of enharmonic music; afterwards the semitone was also divided, as well in the Phrygian as Lydian moods. But Olympus seems to have advanced music by producing something never known or heard of before, and to have gained to himself the honor of being the most excellent, not only in the Grecian but in all other music.
11. Ὄλυμπος δὲ, ὡς Ἀριστόξενός φησιν, ὑπολαμβάνεται ὑπὸ τῶν μουσικῶν τοῦ ἐναρμονίου γένους εὑρετὴς γεγενῆσθαι· τὰ γὰρ πρὸ ἐκείνου πάντα διάτονα καὶ χρωματικὰ ἦν. ὑπονοοῦσι δὲ τὴν εὕρεσιν τοιαύτην τινὰ γενέσθαι· ἀναστρεφόμενον τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἐν τῷ διατόνῳ καὶ διαβιβάζοντα τὸ μέλος πολλάκις ἐπὶ τὴν διάτονον παρυπάτην, τοτὲ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς παραμέσης τοτὲ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς μέσης, καὶ παραβαίνοντα τὴν διάτονον λιχανὸν καταμαθεῖν τὸ κάλλος τοῦ ἤθους, καὶ οὕτω τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἀναλογίας συνεστηκὸς σύστημα θαυμάσαντα καὶ ἀποδεξάμενον ἐν τούτῳ ποιεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ Δωρίου τόνου· οὔτε γὰρ τῶν τοῦ διατόνου ἰδίων οὔτε τῶν τοῦ χρώματος ἅπτεσθαι ἀλλʼ ἤδη τῶν τῆς ἁρμονίας. εἶναι δʼ αὐτῷ τὰ πρῶτα τῶν ἐναρμονίων τοιαῦτα. τιθέασι γὰρ τούτων πρῶτον τὸν Σπονδεῖον, ἐν ᾧ οὐδεμία τῶν διαιρέσεων τὸ ἴδιον ἐμφαίνει, εἰ μή τις εἰς τὸν συντονώτερον σπονδειασμὸν βλέπων αὐτὸ τοῦτο διάτονον εἶναι ἀπεικάσει. δῆλον δʼ ὅτι καὶ ψεῦδος καὶ θήσει ὁ τοιοῦτο τιθείς ψεῦδος μέν, ὅτι διέσει ἔλαττόν ἐστι τόνου τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα κειμένου· ἐκμελὲς δέ, ὅτι, καὶ εἴ τις ἐν τῇ τοῦ τονιαίου δυνάμει τιθείη τὸ τοῦ συντονωτέρου σπονδειασμοῦ ἴδιον, συμβαίνοι ἂν δύο ἑξῆς τίθεσθαι δίτονα, τὸ μὲν ἀσύνθετον τὸ δὲ σύνθετον· τὸ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς μέσαις ἐναρμόνιον πυκνὸν, ᾧ νῦν χρῶνται, οὐ δοκεῖ τοῦ ποιητοῦ εἶναι. ῥᾴδιον δʼ ἐστὶ συνιδεῖν, ἐάν τις ἀρχαϊκῶς τινος αὐλοῦντος ἀκούσῃ ἀσύνθετον γὰρ βούλεται εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἐν ταῖς μέσαις ἡμιτόνιον. τὰ μὲν οὖν πρῶτα τῶν ἐναρμονίων τοιαῦτα· ὕστερον δὲ τὸ ἡμιτόνιον διῃρέθη ἔν τε τοῖς Λυδίοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς Φρυγίοις. φαίνεται δʼ Ὄλυμπος αὐξήσας μουσικὴν τῷ ἀγένητόν τι καὶ ἀγνοούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν εἰσαγαγεῖν, καὶ ἀρχηγὸς γενέσθαι τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς καὶ καλῆς μουσικῆς.
12. Let us now proceed to rhythms; for there were several varieties of these, as well in musical as in rhythmical composition. And here Terpander, among all those novelties with which he adorned music, introduced an elegant manner, that gave it much life. After him, beside the Terpandrian, which he did not relinquish, Polymnestus brought in use another of his own, retaining however the former elegant manner, as did also Thaletas and Sacadas. Other innovations were also made by Alkman and Stesichorus, who nevertheless receded not from the ancient forms. But Crexus, Timotheus, and Philoxenus, and those other poets of the same age, growing more arrogant and studious of novelty, affected those other manners now called Philanthropic and Thematic. For now the fewness of strings and the plainness and majesty of the old music are looked upon as absolutely out of date.
12. ἔστι δέ τις καὶ περὶ τῶν ῥυθμῶν λόγος· γένη γάρ τινα καὶ εἴδη ῥυθμῶν προσεξευρέθη, ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ μελοποιιῶν τε καὶ ῥυθμοποιιῶν. προτέρα μὲν γὰρ ἡ Τερπάνδρου καινοτομία καλόν τινα τρόπον εἰς τὴν μουσικὴν εἰσήγαγε· πολύμνηστος δὲ μετὰ τὸν Τερπάνδρειον τρόπον, ᾧ καὶ ἐχρήσατο, καὶ αὐτὸς, μέντοι ἐχόμενος τοῦ καλοῦ τύπου, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ Θαλήτας καὶ Σακάδας· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι κατά γε τὰς ῥυθμοποιίας ἱκανοί, οὐκ ἐκβαίνοντες; μέντοι τοῦ καλοῦ τύπου. ἔστι δέ τις Ἀλκμανικὴ καινοτομία καὶ Στησιχόρειος, καὶ αὐταὶ οὐκ ἀφεστῶσαι τοῦ καλοῦ. Κρέξος δὲ καὶ Τιμόθεος καὶ Φιλόξενος καὶ οἱ κατʼ αὐτοὺς τὴν ἡλικίαν γεγονότες ποιηταὶ φορτικώτεροι καὶ φιλόκαινοι γεγόνασι, τὸν φιλάνθρωπον καὶ θεματικὸν νῦν ὀνομαζόμενον τρόπον διώξαντες· τὴν γὰρ ὀλιγοχορδίαν καὶ τὴν ἁπλότητα καὶ σεμνότητα τῆς μουσικῆς παντελῶς ἀρχαϊκὴν εἶναι συμβέβηκεν.
13. And now, having discoursed to the best of my ability of the ancient music and the first inventors of it, and how succeeding ages brought it to more and more perfection, I shall make an end, and give way to my friend Soterichus, not only greatly skilled in music but in all the rest of the sciences. For we have always labored rather on the practical than the contemplative part. Which when Lysias had said, he forbare speaking any farther; but then Soterichus thus began.
13. εἰρηκὼς κατὰ δύναμιν περί τε τῆς πρώτης μουσικῆς καὶ τῶν πρῶτον εὑρόντων αὐτήν καὶ ὑπὸ τίνων κατὰ χρόνους; ταῖς προσεξευρέσεσιν ηὔξηται καταπαύσω τὸν λόγον καὶ παραδώσω τῷ ἑταίρῳ Σωτηρίχῳ, ἐσπουδακότι οὐ μόνον περὶ μουσικὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἐγκύκλιον παιδείαν ἡμεῖς; γὰρ μᾶλλον χειρουργικῷ μέρει τῆς μουσικῆς ἐγγεγυμνάσμεθα. ὁ μὲν Λυσίας ταῦτʼ εἰπὼν κατέπαυσε τὸν λόγον.
14. Most noble Onesicrates, said he, since you have engaged us to speak our knowledge concerning the most venerable excellencies of music, which is most pleasing to the Gods, I cannot but approve the learning of our master Lysias, and his great memory in reciting all the inventors of the ancient music, and those who have written concerning it. But I must needs say, that he has given us this account, trusting only to what he has found recorded. We on the other side have not heard of any man that was the inventor of the benefits of music, but of the God Apollo, adorned with all manner of virtue. The flute was neither the invention of Marsyas nor Olympus nor Hyagnis; nor was the harp Apollo’s invention only, but as a God he was the inventor of all the music both of the flute and harp. This is manifest from the dances and sacrifices which were solemnized to Apollo, as Alcaeus and others in their hymns relate. His statue also placed in the Temple of Delos holds in his right hand a bow; at his left the Graces stand, with every one a musical instrument in her hands, one carrying a harp, another a flute, another with a shepherd’s pipe set to her lips. And that this is no conceit of mine appears from this, that Anticles and Ister have testified the same in their commentaries upon these things. And the statue is reported to be so ancient, that the artificers were said to have lived in the time of Hercules. The youth also that carries the Tempic laurel into Delphi is accompanied by one playing upon the flute. And the sacred presents of the Hyperboreans were sent of old to Delos, attended with flutes, pipes, and harps. Some have thought that the God himself played upon the flute, as the best of lyrics, Alcman, relates. Corinna also asserts that Apollo was by Minerva taught to pipe. Venerable is therefore music altogether, as being the invention of the Gods.
14. Σωτήριχος δὲ μετὰ τοῦτον ὧδέ πως ἔφη· ὑπὲρ σεμνοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος καὶ θεοῖς μάλιστα ἀρέσκοντος, ὠγαθὲ Ὀνησίκρατες, τοὺς λόγους ἡμᾶς προετρέψω ποιήσασθαι. ἀποδέχομαι μὲν οὖν τῆς συνέσεως τὸν διδάσκαλον Λυσίαν ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τῆς μνήμης ἣν ἐπεδείξατο περί τε τοὺς εὑρετὰς τῆς πρώτης μουσικῆς καὶ περὶ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα συγγεγραφότας· ὑπομνήσω δὲ τοῦθʼ, ὅτι τοῖς ἀναγεγραμμένοις μόνοις κατακολουθήσας πεποίηται τὴν δεῖξιν. ἡμεῖς δʼ οὐκ ἄνθρωπόν τινα παρελάβομεν εὑρετὴν τῶν τῆς μουσικῆς ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸν πάσαις ταῖς ἀρεταῖς κεκοσμημένον θεὸν Ἀπόλλωνα. οὐτε γὰρ Μαρσύου ἢ Ὀλύμπου ἢ Ὑάγνιδος, ὥς τινες οἴονται, εὕρημα ὁ αὐλός· οὐ μόνη δὲ κιθάρα Ἀπόλλωνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐλητικῆς καὶ κιθαριστικῆς εὑρετὴς ὁ θεός. δῆλον δʼ ἐκ τῶν χορῶν καὶ τῶν θυσιῶν, ἃς προσῆγον μετʼ αὐλῶν τῷ θεῷ· καθάπερ ἄλλοι τε καὶ Ἀλκαῖος ἔν τινι τῶν ὕμνων ἱστορεῖ. καὶ ἡ ἐν Δήλῳ δὲ τοῦ ἀγάλματος αὐτοῦ ἀφίδρυσις ἔχει ἐν μὲν τῇ δεξιᾷ τόξον, ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀριστερᾷ Χάριτας, τῶν τῆς μουσικῆς ὀργάνων ἑκάστην τι ἔχουσαν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ λύραν κρατεῖ ἡ δʼ αὐλοὺς ἡ δʼ ἐν μέσῳ προσκειμένην ἔχει τῷ στόματι σύριγγα ὅτι δʼ οὗτος οὐκ ἐμὸς ὁ λόγος, Ἀντικλῆς καὶ Ἴστρος ἐν ταῖς Ἐπιφανείαις περὶ τούτων ἀφηγήσαντο. οὕτω δὲ παλαιόν ἐστι τὸ ἀφίδρυμα, τοῦτο, ὥστε τοὺς ἐργασαμένους αὐτὸ τῶν καθʼ Ἡρακλέα Μερόπων φασὶν εἶναι. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τῷ κατακομίζοντι παιδὶ τὴν Τεμπικὴν δάφνην εἰς Δελφοὺς παρομαρτεῖ αὐλητής· καὶ τὰ ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων δʼ ἱερὰ μετʼ αὐλῶν καὶ συρίγγων καὶ κιθάρας εἰς τὴν Δῆλόν φασι τὸ παλαιὸν στέλλεσθαι. ἄλλοι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θεόν φασιν αὐλῆσαι, καθάπερ ἱστορεῖ ὁ ἄριστος μελῶν ποιητὴς Ἀλκμάν· ἡ δὲ Κόριννα καὶ διδαχθῆναί φησι τὸν Ἀπόλλω ὑπʼ Ἀθηνᾶς αὐλεῖν. σεμνὴ οὖν κατὰ πάντα ἡ μουσική, θεῶν εὕρημα οὖσα.
15. The ancients made use of it for its worth, as they did all other beneficial sciences. But our men of art, contemning its ancient majesty, instead of that manly, grave, heaven-born music, so acceptable to the Gods, have brought into the theatres a sort of effeminate musical tattling, mere sound without substance; which Plato utterly rejects in the third book of his commonwealth, refusing the Lydian harmony as fit only for lamentations. And they say that this was first instituted for doleful songs. Aristoxenus, in his first book of music, tells us how that Olympus sang an elegy upon the death of Python in the Lydian mood, though some will have Menalippides to be the author of that song. Pindar, in his paean on the nuptials of Niobe, asserts that the Lydian harmony was first used by Anthippus. Others affirm, that Torebus was the first that made use of that sort of harmony; among the rest, Dionysius the iambic writer.
15. ἐχρήσαντο δʼ αὐτῇ οἱ παλαιοὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτηδεύμασι πᾶσιν οἱ δὲ νῦν τὰ σεμνὰ αὐτῆς παραιτησάμενοι, ἀντὶ τῆς ἀνδρώδους ἐκείνης καὶ θεσπεσίας καὶ θεοῖς φίλης κατεαγυῖαν καὶ κωτίλην εἰς τὰ θέατρα εἰσάγουσι. τοιγάρτοι Πλάτων ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ τῆς Πολιτείας δυσχεραίνει τῇ τοιαύτῃ μουσικῇ· τὴν γοῦν Λύδιον ἁρμονίαν παραιτεῖται, ἐπειδὴ ὀξεῖα καὶ ἐπιτήδειος πρὸς θρῆνον. καὶ τὴν πρώτην σύστασιν αὐτῆς φασι θρηνώδη τινὰ γενέσθαι. Ὄλυμπον γὰρ πρῶτον Ἀριστόξενος ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ περὶ Μουσικῆς ἐπὶ τῷ Πύθωνί φησιν ἐπικήδειον αὐλῆσαι Λυδιστί. εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ Μελανιππίδην τούτου τοῦ μέλους ἄρξαι φασί· Πίνδαρος δʼ ἐν Παιᾶσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς Νιόβης γάμοις φησὶ Λύδιον ἁρμονίαν πρῶτον διδαχθῆναι. ἄλλοι δὲ Τόρηβον πρῶτον τῇ ἁρμονίᾳ χρήσασθαι, καθάπερ Διονύσιος ὁ Ἴαμβος ἱστορεῖ.
16. The mixed Lydian moves the affections, and is fit for tragedies. This mood, as Aristoxenus alleges, was invented by Sappho, from whom the tragedians learned it and joined it with the Doric. The one becomes a majestic, lofty style, the other mollifies and stirs to pity; both which are the properties of tragedy. The history of music, however, made Pythoclides the flute-player to be the author of it; and Lysis reports that Lamprocles the Athenian, finding that the diazeuxis (or separation of two tetrachords) was not where almost all others thought it had been, but toward the treble, made such a scheme as is now from paramese to the highest hypate. But for the softer Lydian, being contrary to the mixed Lydian and like the Ionian, they say it was invented by Damon the Athenian.
16. καὶ ἡ Μιξολύδιος δὲ παθητικὴ τίς ἐστι, τραγῳδίαις ἁρμόζουσα., Ἀριστόξενος δέ φησι Σαπφὼ πρώτην εὕρασθαι τὴν Μιξολυδιστί, παρʼ ἧς τοὺς τραγῳδοποιοὺς μαθεῖν· λαβόντας γοῦν αὀτοὺς συζεῦξαι τῇ Δωριστί, ἐπεὶ ἡ μὲν τὸ μεγαλοπρεπὲς καὶ ἀξιωματικὸν ἀποδίδωσιν ἡ δὲ τὸ παθητικόν, μέμικται δὲ διὰ τούτων τραγῳδία. ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἱστορικοῖς τῆς Ἁρμονικῆς Πυθοκλείδην φησὶ τὸν αὐλητὴν εὑρετὴν αὐτῆς γεγονέναι. Λῦσις δὲ Λαμπροκλέα τὸν Ἀθηναῖον συνιδόντα, ὅτι οὐκ ἐνταῦθα ἔχει τὴν διάζευξιν, ὅπου σχεδὸν ἅπαντες ᾤοντο, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ ὀξύ, τοιοῦτον αὐτῆς ἀπεργάσασθαι τὸ σχῆμα οἷον τὸ ἀπὸ παραμέσης ἐπὶ ὑπάτην ὑπατῶν. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τὴν Ἐπανειμένην Λυδιστί, εἴπερ ἐναντία τῇ Μιξολυδιστί, παραπλησίαν οὖσαν τῇ Ἰάδι, ὑπὸ Δάμωνος εὑρῆσθαί φασι τοῦ Ἀθηναίου.