The present study attempts to show what influence a commentary can have on the formation of ideas about a preceding philosophical tradition. A case in point is Simplicius’ commentary on Aristotle’s “Physics” and on fragments of... more
The present study attempts to show what influence a
commentary can have on the formation of ideas about a preceding
philosophical tradition. A case in point is Simplicius’ commentary
on Aristotle’s “Physics” and on fragments of Empedocles’ poem.
The selected passage, though small in size, is quite remarkable in
terms of content and the way Simplicius deals with it. With regard
to content, we are dealing here with one of the fundamental problematic
plots of Empedocles’ philosophy about the alternate rule of
Love and Strife. But Simplicius adds to this his own view of Empedocles’
philosophy, dictated by his desire to harmonize the views of
all the pagan philosophers and place them within a single consistent
scheme. Simplicius wanted to counterpose something to Christianity,
which was gaining in strength, and to show that all Greek
philosophy developed along a certain path and contains no internal
disagreements. On the one hand, Simplicius has preserved for us
very valuable material — fairly lengthy sections of the text of Empedocles’
poem. On the other hand, wishing to implement his program,
Simplicius chose those fragments of the poem that fit well
into it. Therefore, the question arises whether we should take into
account the context in which the fragments are quoted, or simply
extract from the general body of the commentary those fragments
of Empedocles’ poem that we need and consider them independently?
commentary can have on the formation of ideas about a preceding
philosophical tradition. A case in point is Simplicius’ commentary
on Aristotle’s “Physics” and on fragments of Empedocles’ poem.
The selected passage, though small in size, is quite remarkable in
terms of content and the way Simplicius deals with it. With regard
to content, we are dealing here with one of the fundamental problematic
plots of Empedocles’ philosophy about the alternate rule of
Love and Strife. But Simplicius adds to this his own view of Empedocles’
philosophy, dictated by his desire to harmonize the views of
all the pagan philosophers and place them within a single consistent
scheme. Simplicius wanted to counterpose something to Christianity,
which was gaining in strength, and to show that all Greek
philosophy developed along a certain path and contains no internal
disagreements. On the one hand, Simplicius has preserved for us
very valuable material — fairly lengthy sections of the text of Empedocles’
poem. On the other hand, wishing to implement his program,
Simplicius chose those fragments of the poem that fit well
into it. Therefore, the question arises whether we should take into
account the context in which the fragments are quoted, or simply
extract from the general body of the commentary those fragments
of Empedocles’ poem that we need and consider them independently?
In his writings, Plato proposes to rethink the images of various Greek gods, creating new myths about them in the process. For the most part his interpretations tend to present the gods in an ethically acceptable way, declaring, for... more
In his writings, Plato proposes to rethink the images of various Greek gods, creating new myths about them in the process. For the most part his interpretations tend to present the gods in an ethically acceptable way, declaring, for example, the myth of the persecution of the infant Dionysus by Hera as an impudent lie, because the goddess cannot have such a bad temper, or to bring out two images of Aphrodite to show that the spiritual, not the physical, is a respectable and the highest form of love. Of particular note is the figure of Dionysus, who is given a worthy place among the gods revered in the ideal state. One wonders, how does the popularly known god of wine, fun and madness suddenly become in Plato an important tool in the education of young people? A suspicion arises that Plato may have seen something in Dionysus that probably escapes the superficial gaze of an ordinary man. In this paper I am going to refer to different accounts of Dionysus, which will help us to unravel the veil of mystery, and find an answer to the question about what elements of his myth and cult gave Plato grounds to entrust Dionysus a very important role in the formation of the ideal state and trust him with education of youth, which is reflected not only in political dialogues, such as the “Republic” and the “Laws”, but also in the dialogues devoted to the understanding of the soul and its posthumous existence - the “Phaedon” and the “Phaedrus”.
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Empedocles is spoken of as a physician by various ancient authors. However, none of the medical works attributed to him has survived. These may have been the treatise of Empedocles mentioned by Pliny the Elder on the... more
Empedocles is spoken of as a physician by various ancient authors. However, none of the medical works attributed to him has survived. These may have been the treatise of Empedocles mentioned by Pliny the Elder on the deliverance of Athens from the plague and the medical treatise in six hundred verses. Nevertheless, we have at our disposal a number of fragments of his poem, in which the structure of various parts of the body is described, an attempt is made to explain the functioning of the processes of perception, some physiological processes and the structure of living organisms are described. Empedocles is also mentioned in some treatises of the Hippocratic corpus, but rather as a fake doctor in comparison with the real, i. e. Hippocratic doctors. This study aims to resolve the conflict that exists between the fragments of Empedocles’ poem, in which he speaks in the first person and promises to teach various “magical” techniques, the testimonies of Heraclides and Timaeus based on these statements, and the reaction to Empedocles by representatives of the Hippocratic school. For this we will have to turn both to doxographic evidence and to some treatises of the Hippocratic corpus — “Ancient Medicine”, “The Sacred Disease” and “Decorum”. The article examines what medicine was in antiquity, what was the reason for the institutionalization of the medical profession, and whether a clear disciplinary boundary could be drawn between medicine and natural philosophy at the time. These questions are included in the general discussion of the rela-tion between religious and scientific views in the philosophy of Empedocles, as well as in the mentioned treatises of the Hippocratic corpus. In addition, the article attempts to interpret the story of the miraculous resurrection of the breathless by referring to contemporary research in the field of resuscitation.Keywords: Empedocles, ancient medicine, Hippocratic treatises, image of the doctor, magic, breathless girl
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Empedocles believed that everything in the world could be explained by four "roots" and two acting forces. Since Aristotle's time, these four "roots" have been called "elements," which has greatly distorted the perception of Empedocles'... more
Empedocles believed that everything in the world could be explained by four "roots" and two acting forces. Since Aristotle's time, these four "roots" have been called "elements," which has greatly distorted the perception of Empedocles' philosophy. Let us ask ourselves - can we really attribute to Empedocles the idea of "roots" as material particles endowed with definite and clearly defined characteristics? A careful reading of the surviving fragments of Empedocles' poem confronts us rather with uncertainty. Empedocles resorts to various ways of representing them, thus confusing the listener. One has the feeling that, with the numerous epithets and names inherent in the roots, he himself was only trying to find the best way of understanding them. In this article we turn to a large number of fragments in which names, epithets, characteristics, or metaphorical descriptions of roots are mentioned. After carefully analyzing them and offering our own translations into Russian, we come to the conclusion that the understanding of the roots cannot be reduced to simple elements. They are described as gods, as natural elements, as the smallest particles, from the mixture of which everything in the world can be composed. This study shows once again that Empedocles was an outstanding and original thinker, whose ideas cannot be reduced to simple and comprehensible forms.
Keywords: Empedocles, cosmology, roots, acting forces, gods, plurality.
Keywords: Empedocles, cosmology, roots, acting forces, gods, plurality.
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В книге публикуются результаты междисциплинарных исследований образовательных пространств и антропопрактик, которые формируют образ любого города и не сводятся к простой сумме мест локализации образовательной активности горожан. Авторы... more
В книге публикуются результаты междисциплинарных исследований образовательных пространств и антропопрактик, которые формируют образ любого города и не сводятся к простой сумме мест локализации образовательной активности горожан. Авторы предприняли попытку рассмотреть особенности эволюции образов города и человека, получающего образование в городе или вне его, а также сопоставить образовательные
траектории, навигации и практики древних и современных городов.
траектории, навигации и практики древних и современных городов.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
В работе подведены некоторые итоги нашего изучения Страсбургского папируса. Его издание в 1999 году стало настоящим событием в антиковедении, заставив исследователей с новой энергией обратиться к философскому наследию Эмпедокла. С новой... more
В работе подведены некоторые итоги нашего изучения Страсбургского папируса. Его издание в 1999 году стало настоящим событием в антиковедении, заставив исследователей с новой энергией обратиться к философскому наследию Эмпедокла. С новой силой встал вопрос о количестве поэм и их взаимосвязи, стало известно много новых строк, что позволило пересмотреть ранее принятый порядок фрагментов. В настоящем исследовании будут представлены два варианта реконструкции Собрания d с обсуждением их различий, рассмотрены ранее неизвестные строки из палимпсеста Геродиана и предпринята попытка вписать их в контекст поэмы. Речь пойдет также о последовательности строк во фрагменте из Плутарха, и о том, почему наличие стихометрического знака важно и на что это указывает.
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All of us have an idea of the ideal conditions in which we would like to live. They will vary according to the degree of ambition and level of education. However, people have common wishes since we don’t live in isolation (perhaps with... more
All of us have an idea of the ideal conditions in which we would like to live. They will vary according to the degree of ambition and level of education. However, people have common wishes since we don’t live in isolation (perhaps with rare exceptions) and we require guarantees from other people that they are willing to accept certain rules and conditions for the best possible coexistence. Plato was the fi rst to look for such general or even necessary requirements to create an ideal social structure. He considers different aspects of social reality – the division of society into classes, the specifi cs of upbringing and education, even the physical structure of the city and its religion. The article is devoted to the consideration of religious practices, associated cult activities and holidays. In ancient Greece, religion permeated all areas of human life. It would be more correct to say that religion simply did not exist separately from everyday life. Of course, we can distinguish major religious events in the form of solemn organised processions marking the change of seasons, dedicated to the harvest or some other memorable dates. But more often, religious practices were tightly woven into people’s lives, so that even political and military actions were accompanied by an offering to the gods or consultation with the oracle. Understanding the role that religious activity plays in educating citizens, Plato does not seek to create an entirely new popular religion, but as a philosopher interested in the common good, he begins to interpret the images of traditional Greek gods differently. He focuses most of his attention on Zeus, Dionysus and Aphrodite. By comparing traditional notions of the gods with the way Plato portrays them, we conclude that the philosopher has done serious work to rationalise their images. Zeus ceases to be a famous womanizer and head of Olympus, and acquires the traits of a creator, the only good god who is incapable of any evil or injustice. The raucous fun, dancing and intoxication that used to be the cause of many misfortunes and associated with Dionysus are now being declared useful in terms of testing strength and honesty on the one hand, and, on the other, are understood as a necessary means of getting rid of negative energy and bringing people together. The uncontrolled erotic desire sent by Aphrodite is seen by Plato as behavior that is unacceptable in the citizens of an ideal state, and so he develops the doctrine of the two Aphrodites, heavenly and vulgar, in which the heavenly Aphrodite is declared to be a certain stimulus that leads the soul to the supreme good.
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The Greeks painted their statues. This fact is not readily accepted even by specialists, as some mistaken translations and misinterpretations of the ancient sources amply testify. In the paper I analyze the most famous ancient testimonies... more
The Greeks painted their statues. This fact is not readily accepted even by specialists, as some mistaken translations and misinterpretations of the ancient sources amply testify. In the paper I analyze the most famous ancient testimonies and suggest, in some cases, their correct Russian translations. Thus, andrianta graphonta (Plato, Rep. 420 c 4) must be understood as an indication of painting of a statue, rather than a picture; equally well, circumlitio in Seneca (Letter LXXXVI) is related to
a colorful painting, not waxing as some authors still think, etc. Ancient techniques of painting are finally illustrated by an outstanding example: a reconstruction of the funeral statue of a beautiful girl, called Phrasikleia (Athenian National Museum; Brinkmann et al. 2010).
a colorful painting, not waxing as some authors still think, etc. Ancient techniques of painting are finally illustrated by an outstanding example: a reconstruction of the funeral statue of a beautiful girl, called Phrasikleia (Athenian National Museum; Brinkmann et al. 2010).
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This work is dedicated to the history of Academy in Athens in early and late periods of its existence. I will first consider Academy in the time of Plato and then switch to the Athenian school of Neoplatonism (“the House of Proclus”) in... more
This work is dedicated to the history of Academy in Athens in early and late periods of its existence. I will first consider Academy in the time of Plato and then switch to the Athenian school of Neoplatonism (“the House of Proclus”) in the period of late antiquity. Using both archaeological and written evidences, fortunately sufficient in case of both of these institutions, I intend to draw a picture of their physical location and structure. Such an attitude towards the history, typical to the Annales School, will help us to place intellectual life of the ancients in proper everyday context. There is one more reason why I have chosen these objects. One can say that these two institutions represent two
different approaches to the way of life and the methods of education. On the one hand, one can see here the evolution of educational system from free discourses to more familiar for our educational system formal instructions. On the other hand, Plato’s Academy reminds us of the contemporary tendency of organizing scientific life far from the densely populated cities in the form of university’s campuses, which, to some extent, constitutes a return to the classical paradigm.
different approaches to the way of life and the methods of education. On the one hand, one can see here the evolution of educational system from free discourses to more familiar for our educational system formal instructions. On the other hand, Plato’s Academy reminds us of the contemporary tendency of organizing scientific life far from the densely populated cities in the form of university’s campuses, which, to some extent, constitutes a return to the classical paradigm.
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Two letters of the “Pythagorean” women Melissa and Myia, addressed to their female friends, are translated into the Russian for the first time. In the introduction, the reader will find background information about the origin of the... more
Two letters of the “Pythagorean” women Melissa and Myia, addressed to their female friends, are translated into the Russian for the first time. In the introduction, the reader will find background information about the origin of the letters, their textual tradition, their discovery in the beginning of the 19th century, and, finally, the formation of a critical approach to them in the context of the emerging studies of so-called Pseudopythagorica. In the complementary notes to the text, I am placing the letters in the context of an appropriate philosophical tradition and making some textual observations. The translation of these two letters is a part of the research project called on to open a much-neglected page in the history of philosophy, and to show that ignoring secondary sources can often lead to a serious narrow-mindedness in our understanding of ancient philosophical tradition.
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The letters of the Pythagorean women, designed to support the Pythagorean ideal of education in the context of the revived interest to Pythagoreanism around the first cent. CE and considered until the 19th century as the authentic ones,... more
The letters of the Pythagorean women, designed to support the Pythagorean ideal of education in the context of the revived interest to Pythagoreanism around the first cent. CE and considered until the 19th century as the authentic ones, are examined in this article in the context of the rhetorical schools of the same period. Putting these letters in the context of pastoral ones, we can also suggest that the Pythagorean letters were written with an ideological aim, as a counterbalance to the strengthening Christianity. I discuss the testimonies about Theano in their chronological order and question one of the conventional dating of the letters, attributed to her name. The second part from the letter Theano to Eubule is published in my translation, for the first time in the Russian language. Overall, this article is conceived as an introduction to a forthcoming commented translation of the letters of the Pythagorean women.
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The article discusses an episode in the universal history of metrology and standardization. On the basis of literary testimonies and archeological data the author first outlines the history of development of various types of the water... more
The article discusses an episode in the universal history of metrology and standardization. On the basis of literary testimonies and archeological data the author first outlines the history of development of various types of the water clocks, clepsydra. Special attention is paid to the usage of clepsydra in public life (esp. in legal proceeding) and in medical practice. Then, considering the massive water clock from the sanctuary of the healer-god Amphiaraus in Oropos author shows that in the 4th cent. BCE the water clocks became an essential part of social life, and demonstrates the ways they calibrated the device according to a 24-hours scale. The author suggests that the massive water clock, designed for continuous measuring of time, subdivided at equal hours, was built at the sanctuary of Amphiaraus for medical purposes. Such hypothesis can be confirmed by a series of passages from the Hippocratic corpus, where the word “hour” is actually introduced, as well as by two more testimonies from the medical practice of Herophilus and Galen.
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Empedocles uses two forces to describe the world process, the emergence and destruction of space-Love and Strife, which work in turn, and in due time, replace each other. It is obvious that love is responsible for unification and... more
Empedocles uses two forces to describe the world process, the emergence and destruction of space-Love and Strife, which work in turn, and in due time, replace each other. It is obvious that love is responsible for unification and creation, and hostility for division and destruction. At first glance it seems quite natural that it is the power of unification that Empedocles calls Aphrodite. However, when you look closely at the fragments of the poem, the image of Aphrodite is not so unambiguous: she acts as a god-craftsman, that is, not just watches from afar as the roots of things are connected to each other, but mixes them with her own hands and is directly involved in the creation of living beings. We meet her involved in such activities as metal casting, pottery, and artwork. This naturally leads to the question from where did she get so many different functions? To answer this question, one should turn to literary sources about Aphrodite both before and after Empedocles' life (in the context of Homer's epos and Hesiod's poem), consider the religious tradition of Cyprus and especially the East, neighboring Greece, from where, in the opinion of some scientists, the goddess could get into the Mediterranean cultural landscape (most important study here is the work by Nano Marinatos), to study archaeological data and findings related to Aphrodite. Taking into account Empedocles' interest to bloodless sacrifices I will try to tie his views with the later orphic tradition. At the same time, in order to protect myself from losing the way in the forest of such huge massif it is necessary to restrict the area of this study. I will concentrate only on the activities of Aphrodite as she is presented in Empedocles.
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Skepsis 2007, pp. 24-31
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Language: English Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 6.1 (2012) 58–75 Keywords: Philosophical terminology, Empedocles, Heraclitus, ancient art and technology Abstract: Mycenaean Greek exhorted a considerable influence on the formation of the very meaningful... more
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 6.1 (2012) 58–75
Keywords: Philosophical terminology, Empedocles, Heraclitus, ancient art and technology
Abstract: Mycenaean Greek exhorted a considerable influence on the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmonia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing ancient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropriate, technical, context. As P. Ilievski has convincingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains the harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than visible connection, – certain hidden and secret nature, – and he chooses lyre and bow because they symbolize the same innate connection which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Empedocles connects harmonia with Aphrodite – one of the creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term of harmonia from its technical to abstract meaning.
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 6.1 (2012) 58–75
Keywords: Philosophical terminology, Empedocles, Heraclitus, ancient art and technology
Abstract: Mycenaean Greek exhorted a considerable influence on the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmonia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing ancient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropriate, technical, context. As P. Ilievski has convincingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains the harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than visible connection, – certain hidden and secret nature, – and he chooses lyre and bow because they symbolize the same innate connection which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Empedocles connects harmonia with Aphrodite – one of the creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term of harmonia from its technical to abstract meaning.
Research Interests:
Language: Russian Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.2 (2015) 353–362 Keywords: clepsydra, breathing, Aristotle, the effect of simile. Abstract. In Fr. B 100 DK Empedocles famously compares the principle of breathing with this of clepsydra. This simile... more
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.2 (2015) 353–362
Keywords: clepsydra, breathing, Aristotle, the effect of simile.
Abstract. In Fr. B 100 DK Empedocles famously compares the principle of breathing with this of clepsydra. This simile provoked a scholarly controversy. The main question is what kind of breathing Empedocles describes – the breathing through the skin or the breathing through the mouth and nostrils? In this article I consider various solutions to the problem, suggested by different scholars (Powell 1923, Last 1924, Furley 1957, Booth 1960, Bollack 1965, O’Brien 1970), and incline to accept the idea that Empedocles describes a form of breathing through the skin with a qualification that the skin in question is the outer membrane of the respiratory apparatus rather than the outer covering of the living body, as it was previously thought. This article is the first part of the future analysis of Empedocles’ views on physical mechanisms of living beings and their sense perceptions.
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.2 (2015) 353–362
Keywords: clepsydra, breathing, Aristotle, the effect of simile.
Abstract. In Fr. B 100 DK Empedocles famously compares the principle of breathing with this of clepsydra. This simile provoked a scholarly controversy. The main question is what kind of breathing Empedocles describes – the breathing through the skin or the breathing through the mouth and nostrils? In this article I consider various solutions to the problem, suggested by different scholars (Powell 1923, Last 1924, Furley 1957, Booth 1960, Bollack 1965, O’Brien 1970), and incline to accept the idea that Empedocles describes a form of breathing through the skin with a qualification that the skin in question is the outer membrane of the respiratory apparatus rather than the outer covering of the living body, as it was previously thought. This article is the first part of the future analysis of Empedocles’ views on physical mechanisms of living beings and their sense perceptions.
Research Interests:
Language: English Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.1 (2015) 185–192 Keywords: the images of philosopher, Pythagoras, plastic art, schools in antiquity, Asclepius. Abstract. Describing Pythagoras’ activities in Croton Iamblichus summarizes the content of... more
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.1 (2015) 185–192
Keywords: the images of philosopher, Pythagoras, plastic art, schools in antiquity, Asclepius.
Abstract. Describing Pythagoras’ activities in Croton Iamblichus summarizes the content of his public speeches addressed to young men, to the Thousand who governed the city, as well as children and women of Croton. The earliest evidences about the Pythagoras’ speeches, available to us are found in an Athenian rhetorician and a pupil of Socrates Antisthenes (450–370 BCE), the historians Dicearchus and Timaeus, and Isocrates. In the present paper I consider the content of the Pythagoras’ speeches, preserved by Iamblichus, in more details, in order to suggest a new interpretation of the famous grave relief from the Antikensammlung, Berlin (Sk 1462). The relief, found in an “Olive grove on the road to Eleusis” and dated to the first century BCE, presents an image of a sitting half-naked bearded man with a young man, also half-naked, standing behind his chair, and a group of peoples consisting of a child, an older man and a woman, standing in front of him. Our attention attracts a big and clear image of the letter ‘Psi’ above the scene. The comparison of the content of Pythagoras’ speeches with the picture given on the relief allows us to interpret the image as following: we suggest that the sitting man, undoubtedly a philosopher, could be a Pythagorean or Pythagoras himself; he is attended by his pupil and gives speeches to different groups of peoples, symbolically represented as a young man, a public agent, a woman and a child. Admittedly, the letter ‘Psi’ symbolizes the Pythagorean teaching about psyche (the soul), and the relief itself, contrary to general opinion, was initially designed to adorn a school or a private building rather than a funeral monument. An alternative interpretation suggested is that the sitting figure could be a wandering physician.
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 9.1 (2015) 185–192
Keywords: the images of philosopher, Pythagoras, plastic art, schools in antiquity, Asclepius.
Abstract. Describing Pythagoras’ activities in Croton Iamblichus summarizes the content of his public speeches addressed to young men, to the Thousand who governed the city, as well as children and women of Croton. The earliest evidences about the Pythagoras’ speeches, available to us are found in an Athenian rhetorician and a pupil of Socrates Antisthenes (450–370 BCE), the historians Dicearchus and Timaeus, and Isocrates. In the present paper I consider the content of the Pythagoras’ speeches, preserved by Iamblichus, in more details, in order to suggest a new interpretation of the famous grave relief from the Antikensammlung, Berlin (Sk 1462). The relief, found in an “Olive grove on the road to Eleusis” and dated to the first century BCE, presents an image of a sitting half-naked bearded man with a young man, also half-naked, standing behind his chair, and a group of peoples consisting of a child, an older man and a woman, standing in front of him. Our attention attracts a big and clear image of the letter ‘Psi’ above the scene. The comparison of the content of Pythagoras’ speeches with the picture given on the relief allows us to interpret the image as following: we suggest that the sitting man, undoubtedly a philosopher, could be a Pythagorean or Pythagoras himself; he is attended by his pupil and gives speeches to different groups of peoples, symbolically represented as a young man, a public agent, a woman and a child. Admittedly, the letter ‘Psi’ symbolizes the Pythagorean teaching about psyche (the soul), and the relief itself, contrary to general opinion, was initially designed to adorn a school or a private building rather than a funeral monument. An alternative interpretation suggested is that the sitting figure could be a wandering physician.
Research Interests:
Language: Russian Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.2 (2014) 249–256 Keywords: Plato, Critias, Timaeus, Atlantis, Sicily, Syracuse. Abstract. The book by Gunnar Rudberg is dedicated to the well-known and exciting legend on Atlantis. The author carefully... more
Language: Russian
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.2 (2014) 249–256
Keywords: Plato, Critias, Timaeus, Atlantis, Sicily, Syracuse.
Abstract. The book by Gunnar Rudberg is dedicated to the well-known and exciting legend on Atlantis. The author carefully considers different opinions, starting from late antiquity and finishing with the beginning of the twentieth century. The main question that he proposes to answer is: Did anything in reality correspond to the Plato’s story or it must be taken as a pure invention by the Athenian philosopher? Did he invent the island with this unique political structure or took some polis as a prototype? Having considered various hypotheses proposed by the scholars from Antiquity to the present times, he himself suggests that at the time of Plato the Sicilian Syracuse could be such an example and concludes that this city had become Plato’s prototype.
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.2 (2014) 249–256
Keywords: Plato, Critias, Timaeus, Atlantis, Sicily, Syracuse.
Abstract. The book by Gunnar Rudberg is dedicated to the well-known and exciting legend on Atlantis. The author carefully considers different opinions, starting from late antiquity and finishing with the beginning of the twentieth century. The main question that he proposes to answer is: Did anything in reality correspond to the Plato’s story or it must be taken as a pure invention by the Athenian philosopher? Did he invent the island with this unique political structure or took some polis as a prototype? Having considered various hypotheses proposed by the scholars from Antiquity to the present times, he himself suggests that at the time of Plato the Sicilian Syracuse could be such an example and concludes that this city had become Plato’s prototype.
Research Interests:
Language: English Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.1 (2014) 9–23, illustr. Keywords: Academy at Athens, Proclus, Damascius, Neoplatonism, classical archaeology. Abstract. In the first and second parts of the article we look at two archaeological sites... more
Language: English
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.1 (2014) 9–23, illustr.
Keywords: Academy at Athens, Proclus, Damascius, Neoplatonism, classical archaeology.
Abstract. In the first and second parts of the article we look at two archaeological sites excavated in the center of Athens, a building, located on the Southern slope of the Acropolis and now buried under the Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, known as House Chi, or the “House of Proclus”, and Houses A, B and C at the slope of the Areopagus overlooking the Athenian Agora. We outline and illustrate the basic finds and reexamine the principal arguments in favor of identifying these constructions as the houses of philosophical schools and, in the third part of the paper, offer a remark on religious practice in the Neoplatonic school.
Issue: ΣΧΟΛΗ 8.1 (2014) 9–23, illustr.
Keywords: Academy at Athens, Proclus, Damascius, Neoplatonism, classical archaeology.
Abstract. In the first and second parts of the article we look at two archaeological sites excavated in the center of Athens, a building, located on the Southern slope of the Acropolis and now buried under the Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, known as House Chi, or the “House of Proclus”, and Houses A, B and C at the slope of the Areopagus overlooking the Athenian Agora. We outline and illustrate the basic finds and reexamine the principal arguments in favor of identifying these constructions as the houses of philosophical schools and, in the third part of the paper, offer a remark on religious practice in the Neoplatonic school.
Research Interests:
ΣΧΟΛΗ 7.1 (2013) 109–175 Keywords: Pythagorean pseudoepigrapha, Platonism, Hellenism, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine. Abstract: In the seventieth of the last century interest to the pseudo-Pythagorean literature was relatively... more
ΣΧΟΛΗ 7.1 (2013) 109–175
Keywords: Pythagorean pseudoepigrapha, Platonism, Hellenism, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine.
Abstract: In the seventieth of the last century interest to the pseudo-Pythagorean literature was relatively widespread among philologists. It was fuelled by the fact that these texts, written in the Hellenistic period and falsely ascribed to the Ancient Pythagoreans, were notable for their syncretism both in language and content. They posed difficult questions concerning their provenance and dating and, thanks to the efforts of such eminent scholars as H. Thesleff, W. Burkert, W. Marg, M. Baltes, and T. Szlezák, who had undertaken to place the Pythagorean pseudoepigrapha in the proper Hellenistic and Early Roman philosophical and literary context, for the first time entered the mainstream of contemporary classical studies. Still, despite the research accomplished to date, there remain numerous unsolved questions that continue to puzzle everyone entering on the field of Ancient pseudoepigraphica. A treatise “On the nature of the world and the soul”, ascribed to an ancient Pythagorean Timaios of Locri, is among the most interesting pseudonymous philosophical works available, and it is hoped that the first Russian translation of it will draw attention of Russian-speaking scholars to this intriguing document of Late Hellenistic thought. Information about Timaios’ identity and the nature of the work ascribed to him is given in the introduction to the translation. In the commentary we are trying to note some unclear or otherwise remarkable places, mostly on the basis of a comparison between our treatise and Plato’s dialog as it was understood in the Platonic tradition. Generally speaking this ex facte secondary work has proven to be an important source for our understanding of the development of Pythagorean and Platonic ideas from the Hellenistic period up to Late Antiquity and beyond.
Keywords: Pythagorean pseudoepigrapha, Platonism, Hellenism, metaphysics, astronomy, medicine.
Abstract: In the seventieth of the last century interest to the pseudo-Pythagorean literature was relatively widespread among philologists. It was fuelled by the fact that these texts, written in the Hellenistic period and falsely ascribed to the Ancient Pythagoreans, were notable for their syncretism both in language and content. They posed difficult questions concerning their provenance and dating and, thanks to the efforts of such eminent scholars as H. Thesleff, W. Burkert, W. Marg, M. Baltes, and T. Szlezák, who had undertaken to place the Pythagorean pseudoepigrapha in the proper Hellenistic and Early Roman philosophical and literary context, for the first time entered the mainstream of contemporary classical studies. Still, despite the research accomplished to date, there remain numerous unsolved questions that continue to puzzle everyone entering on the field of Ancient pseudoepigraphica. A treatise “On the nature of the world and the soul”, ascribed to an ancient Pythagorean Timaios of Locri, is among the most interesting pseudonymous philosophical works available, and it is hoped that the first Russian translation of it will draw attention of Russian-speaking scholars to this intriguing document of Late Hellenistic thought. Information about Timaios’ identity and the nature of the work ascribed to him is given in the introduction to the translation. In the commentary we are trying to note some unclear or otherwise remarkable places, mostly on the basis of a comparison between our treatise and Plato’s dialog as it was understood in the Platonic tradition. Generally speaking this ex facte secondary work has proven to be an important source for our understanding of the development of Pythagorean and Platonic ideas from the Hellenistic period up to Late Antiquity and beyond.
Research Interests:
Подборка текстов для изучения орфической и пифагорейской традиций осуществлена таким образом, чтобы у читателя сложилось отчетливое представление об их истоках, расцвете и завершении. В предисловии заострено внимание на спорном и не до... more
Подборка текстов для изучения орфической и пифагорейской традиций осуществлена таким образом, чтобы у читателя сложилось отчетливое представление об их истоках, расцвете и завершении. В предисловии заострено внимание на спорном и не до конца решенном вопросе о греческом шаманизме.
Пифагорейская традиция: Избранные работы Эрика Доддса, Вальтера Буркерта и Джона Риста в переводах на русский язык / Под общей ред. Е. В. Афонасина. Перевод с английского языка Е. В. Афонасина и А. С. Афонасиной. – Новосибирск: Центр... more
Пифагорейская традиция: Избранные работы Эрика Доддса, Вальтера Буркерта и Джона Риста в переводах на русский язык / Под общей ред. Е. В. Афонасина. Перевод с английского языка Е. В. Афонасина и А. С. Афонасиной. – Новосибирск: Центр изучения древней философии и классической традиции НГУ; Офсет-TM, 2020. – 139 с. (Античная философия и классическая традиция. Приложение к журналу ΣΧΟΛΗ [Том. I]; изд. с 2020 г.)
THE PYTHAGOREAN TRADITION EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV This anthology contains a concise study of an important cultural and philosophical phenomenon of Late Antiquity, usually labeled as the revived... more
THE PYTHAGOREAN TRADITION
EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV
This anthology contains a concise study of an important cultural and philosophical phenomenon of Late Antiquity, usually labeled as the revived Pythagoreanism or Neopythagoreanism, and offers the major works of the Neopythagoreans in a new Russian translation. Of course the “Neopythagoreans” and their contemporaries considered the movement in question as genuine Pythagoreanism: they did not acknowledge a fundamental gap in the tradition and insisted on the existence of an unbroken chain of succession from Ancient Pythagoreanism to the new one. This brought to life numerous pseudoepigraphic writings attributed to such An-cient Pythagoreans as Theano, Lysius, Hipparchus, Philolaus, Archytas and others. The Life of Pythagoras by Porphyry and On the Pythagorean Way of Life by Iamblichus pictured Ancient Pythagoreans as legendary sages, wonder makers and secret educators of humanity, and the image of Pythagoras created in Late Antiquity is still current in popular opinion. The most exemplary description of a Pythagorean sage, Apollonius of Tyana, produced by Flavius Philostratus, de-serves special attention in this connection and still intrigues scholars from the point of view of both the sources used and ideology involved.
Legendary Apollonius and similar propagators of the “Pythagorean way of life” represent just one side of the Neopythagorean revival. An entirely new philosophic movement, also called the Neopythagoreanism, started to develop approximately in this time. Already discernible in the Middle Platonism, it is found among the Neoplatonists in its fully developed form. These philosophers and their “Pythagorean” numerology and complicated metaphysics of the first principles are the main topic of the book.
Unfortunately only a few works of these authors are extant and the greater part of the material we have to deal with is preserved in fragmentary form in later doxographers and commentators. Since no reliable translation of these fragments existed in Russian so far, we deemed it important to fill up this gap and supply the reader with new translations of these interesting texts. A treatise “On the nature of the world and the soul”, ascribed to an ancient Pythagorean Timaios of Locri and counted among the most interesting pseudonymous philosophical works available, is translated and commented in Chapter 4, the fragments of Moderatus and Numenius are found in Chapters 6 and 9; two treatises by Nicomachus (these in arithmetic and harmonics) are translated in Chapter 7, an introductory manual, “Mathematics useful for understanding Plato” by Theon of Smyrna, a Greek mathematician, strongly influenced by the Neo-Pythagorean school of thought, is translated in Chapter 8, while Chapter 10 is dedicated to the Pythagorean numerology, represented by an anonymous treatise Theologoumena arithmeticae (which contains early material, mainly from Anatolius and Nicomachus). In Chapters 1–3 and 5 we adduce a series of relevant extracts from Greek, Judean and Early Christian philosophers as well as the Gnostic literature, analyzed in the context of Religious systems of Late Antiquity. As general introductions to Chapters 6, 7 and 9 we reprint few pages from the famous book by John Dillon The Middle Platonists (Duckworth, 1977; Cornell UP, 19962), dedicated to Moderatus, Nichomachus and Numenius, in our translation (published in St. Petersburg, 2002, corrected). Two articles of fundamental importance, these by Eric Dodds on the origin of the Neoplatonic One (Classical Quarterly 22 [1928] 129–42) and by John Rist on Neopythagoreanism and “Plato’s” Second Letter (Phronesis 10 [1965] 78–81), are translated as attachments to this volume.
The work will be useful for students of the Pythagorean tradition as well as for a wider readership, including those scholars and students who are interested in Ancient philosophy, mathematics and music. The texts are supplemented by indices and bibliography.
EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV
This anthology contains a concise study of an important cultural and philosophical phenomenon of Late Antiquity, usually labeled as the revived Pythagoreanism or Neopythagoreanism, and offers the major works of the Neopythagoreans in a new Russian translation. Of course the “Neopythagoreans” and their contemporaries considered the movement in question as genuine Pythagoreanism: they did not acknowledge a fundamental gap in the tradition and insisted on the existence of an unbroken chain of succession from Ancient Pythagoreanism to the new one. This brought to life numerous pseudoepigraphic writings attributed to such An-cient Pythagoreans as Theano, Lysius, Hipparchus, Philolaus, Archytas and others. The Life of Pythagoras by Porphyry and On the Pythagorean Way of Life by Iamblichus pictured Ancient Pythagoreans as legendary sages, wonder makers and secret educators of humanity, and the image of Pythagoras created in Late Antiquity is still current in popular opinion. The most exemplary description of a Pythagorean sage, Apollonius of Tyana, produced by Flavius Philostratus, de-serves special attention in this connection and still intrigues scholars from the point of view of both the sources used and ideology involved.
Legendary Apollonius and similar propagators of the “Pythagorean way of life” represent just one side of the Neopythagorean revival. An entirely new philosophic movement, also called the Neopythagoreanism, started to develop approximately in this time. Already discernible in the Middle Platonism, it is found among the Neoplatonists in its fully developed form. These philosophers and their “Pythagorean” numerology and complicated metaphysics of the first principles are the main topic of the book.
Unfortunately only a few works of these authors are extant and the greater part of the material we have to deal with is preserved in fragmentary form in later doxographers and commentators. Since no reliable translation of these fragments existed in Russian so far, we deemed it important to fill up this gap and supply the reader with new translations of these interesting texts. A treatise “On the nature of the world and the soul”, ascribed to an ancient Pythagorean Timaios of Locri and counted among the most interesting pseudonymous philosophical works available, is translated and commented in Chapter 4, the fragments of Moderatus and Numenius are found in Chapters 6 and 9; two treatises by Nicomachus (these in arithmetic and harmonics) are translated in Chapter 7, an introductory manual, “Mathematics useful for understanding Plato” by Theon of Smyrna, a Greek mathematician, strongly influenced by the Neo-Pythagorean school of thought, is translated in Chapter 8, while Chapter 10 is dedicated to the Pythagorean numerology, represented by an anonymous treatise Theologoumena arithmeticae (which contains early material, mainly from Anatolius and Nicomachus). In Chapters 1–3 and 5 we adduce a series of relevant extracts from Greek, Judean and Early Christian philosophers as well as the Gnostic literature, analyzed in the context of Religious systems of Late Antiquity. As general introductions to Chapters 6, 7 and 9 we reprint few pages from the famous book by John Dillon The Middle Platonists (Duckworth, 1977; Cornell UP, 19962), dedicated to Moderatus, Nichomachus and Numenius, in our translation (published in St. Petersburg, 2002, corrected). Two articles of fundamental importance, these by Eric Dodds on the origin of the Neoplatonic One (Classical Quarterly 22 [1928] 129–42) and by John Rist on Neopythagoreanism and “Plato’s” Second Letter (Phronesis 10 [1965] 78–81), are translated as attachments to this volume.
The work will be useful for students of the Pythagorean tradition as well as for a wider readership, including those scholars and students who are interested in Ancient philosophy, mathematics and music. The texts are supplemented by indices and bibliography.
Research Interests:
ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΤΕΧΝΗ. ESSAYS ON ANCIENT MUSIC EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV The book contains a number of studies and translations concerned with various aspects of Ancient musical culture and theory. After a... more
ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΤΕΧΝΗ.
ESSAYS ON ANCIENT MUSIC
EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV
The book contains a number of studies and translations concerned with various aspects of Ancient musical culture and theory. After a short systematic introduc-tion and a bibliographic outline, the authors trace the development of the musical theory from Pythagoras to Archytas and study the origins of the concept of ‘har-mony’. We than turn to the Aristotelian Problems, concerned with music, Pseudo-Euclidean Sectio Canonis, extracts from the On music by Aristoxenus and Theophrastus, the Aristoxenian Elementa rythmica, the Pythagorean Elements of Music by Ptolemaïs of Kyrene, the Manual of Harmonics by Nicomachus of Gera-sa and musical sections of the Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato by The-on of Smyrna, which amounts to a good selection of Ancient musical sources in a new Russian translation.
The introductory paper discusses Ancient musical practices, outlines the sources of the science of Harmonics in Classical Greece, and reveals the role of music in the society. The exposition is supplemented with a series of color illustra-tions and a select bibliography.
The first essay outlines the Pythagorean science of harmonics in its historical and theoretical aspects. It is intended to be a chapter in the history of ancient mathematical studies of nature, although the author occasionally touches upon such related areas as the history of philosophy and the history of music, and hopes that his work will be interesting to scholars working in these fields. After a short introduction, the author first turns to the phenomenology of harmony and then analyses in considerable details the harmony as a structure of numerical rela-tions and – alleged or real – acoustic experiments designed to establish the quali-ties of sound, as well as consonant and dissonant intervals.
The second essays, the “birth of harmony out of the spirit of tekhe,” studies the extent to which the Mycenaean Greek influenced the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmo-nia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing an-cient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropri-ate, technical, context. As scholars, most notably P. Ilievski (1993), have convinc-ingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than a visible connection, and he chooses lyre and bow because they sym-bolize the same innate joint, which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Emped-ocles links harmonia with Aphrodite – one of creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term from its technical to abstract meaning.
The Problems, concerned with music in the Corpus Aristotelicum is a collection of questions and answers on the subject of music, and was compiled, as the ma-jority of scholars agree, in Lyceum during and after Aristotle's time, in the late fourth and the early third centuries BCE. Unlike later manuals, the collection is marked by its diversity: it proposes a range of working hypotheses and offers al-ternative explanations for the same phenomenon, a rare witness of vivid school discussions of the scientific matters.
Although a work of several hands, rather than of Euclid (active around 300 BCE), the Sectio Canonis (an introduction and 20 propositions formulated in the manner of theorems, preserved independently and, partially and slightly differ-ently, in Porphyry and Boethius), is counted among the most important writings on ancient mathematical harmonics. The central part of the treatise could indeed be written by the great mathematician himself, undoubtedly, based on the works of early authors, such as Archytas, while the rest, esp. the introduction, is admit-tedly a later addition. Despite few logical inconsistencies, the treatise as a whole is a unique early attempt at the composing of a systematic mathematical harmonics, based on both the empirical observations and an intrinsic logic of the division of the musical kanon.
The Peripatetic philosopher Aristoxenus (the 4th century BCE) is undoubtedly the most important musical theorist of Antiquity. His major piece of writings, transmitted to our days as the Elementa harmonica have recently been translated into Russian by V. G. Tsypin (1998, Moscow), while his general views on the musi-cal culture are less studied. So are his fragments on rhythm. Rhythmical phenom-ena are very widespread: “rhythm is applied to bodies that do not move, as when we speak of a statue having ‘good rhythm’, to anything that moves, as when we speak of someone walking with ‘good rhythm’… in general rhythm is perceived by three senses, which are these: sight, as in dancing; hearing, as in melody; and touch, by which we perceive, for instance, the pulsations of the arteries” (Aristides Quintilianus, De Musica 1.13, Barker’s translation). In his Elementa Rhythmica Aristoxenus builds a general and quite abstract theory of rhythm, treating it as a phenomenon, quite distinct from metre and musical intervals. Indeed, the latter are perceived as quantifiers, inherently characteristic of verse and melody. On the contrary, rhythm does not inhere in a poem or musical composition and must be imposed on them: in order to perform a piece of poetry or music, especially if they involve a bodily movement, dance, one has to apply quite an empirical art of rhythmical composition (rhythmopoiia), which allows to structure fluid and un-stable temporal events. In the chapter, we offer a translation of the Elementa Rhythmica into Russian and, commenting on it, adduce contemporary evidence for the psychological aspects of time perception and structuring of spatial and temporal patterns.
The heir of Aristotle Theophrastus of Eresus (the head of Lyceum from 322 to c. 287 BCE) wrote voluminously on a great variety of subjects, including music. Unfortunately, not much survived intact, and for recovering his highly original approach to music we have to rely on a series of testimonies in later authors (fr. 714 ff. Fortenbaugh), and a relatively long extract from his treatise On Music, quoted by Porphyry in his Commentary to Ptolemy’s Harmonics. He seems to be especially concerned with educational and therapeutic value of music and, most importantly, while criticising standard Pythagorean, Platonic and Peripatetic mathematical harmonics as well as contemporary acoustical theories, have pro-posed a new qualitative approach to music, based on a re-evaluation of common empirical considerations and a very problematic (due to the lack of sufficient evi-dence) theory of the psychological nature of musical consciousness, and special power of music, manifested in the movement productive of melody which occurs in the human soul when it reveals itself in a melodic voice.
Extracts from the Pythagorean Elements of Music of Ptolemaïs of Kyrene, the only female musical theorist in Antiquity, preserved by Porphyry in his Commen-tary to Ptolemy’s Harmonics, are important, first of all, because, they belongs to those very scanty testimonies that witness continuous development of the musical science from the time of Aristoxenus to this of Nicomachus of Gerasa. Apparent-ly, Porphyry quotes Ptolemaïs on the basis of the work of Didymus the Musician (active in the time of Nero), and gives absolutely no information about her live. Most recently Levin (2009) speculated that this Ptolemaïs could be a woman of noble origin and live in Alexandria in the time of Eratosthenes (c. 275–194 BCE), which would be a nice hypothesis but cannot be proved. The extracts introduce the notion of the science of kanonike and contribute to the famous polemics be-tween the mathematikoi and the mousikoi, which lead to ‘reason-based’ Pythago-rean and ‘perception-based’ Aristoxenian approaches to musical theory, and Ptol-emaïs apparently prefers the latter despite the title of her work, given by Porphyry.
The fragments of Theophrastus’ and Ptolemaïs’ musical works are supple-mented with other evidences, also quoted by Porphyry, such as the most im-portant musical fragment of Archytas (fr. 1 DK), extracts from the Peripatetic De audibilibus, as well as quotes from such otherwise unknown musical writers as Heraclides the Younger (active in the time of Claudius and Nero), Panaetius the Younger (unknown date), and Aelianus (the end of the 2nd c.), all on the subject of Pythagorean harmonics and acoustic theory.
In two final chapters we translate the famous Manual of harmonics by the Ne-opythagorean Nicomachus of Gerasa (the 2nd c. CE) as well as the musical sec-tions of The Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato by Theon of Smyrna (the 2nd c. CE), which contain material taken from Thrasyllus (the beginning of the 1st c. CE) and Adrastus (the end of the 1st c. CE).
The work will be useful for students of Ancient music as well as for a wider readership, including those scholars and students who are interested in Ancient philosophy and culture. The texts are illustrated and supplemented with a select bibliography.
ESSAYS ON ANCIENT MUSIC
EDITED BY EUGENE AFONASIN, ANNA AFONASINA AND ANDREY SCHETNIKOV
The book contains a number of studies and translations concerned with various aspects of Ancient musical culture and theory. After a short systematic introduc-tion and a bibliographic outline, the authors trace the development of the musical theory from Pythagoras to Archytas and study the origins of the concept of ‘har-mony’. We than turn to the Aristotelian Problems, concerned with music, Pseudo-Euclidean Sectio Canonis, extracts from the On music by Aristoxenus and Theophrastus, the Aristoxenian Elementa rythmica, the Pythagorean Elements of Music by Ptolemaïs of Kyrene, the Manual of Harmonics by Nicomachus of Gera-sa and musical sections of the Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato by The-on of Smyrna, which amounts to a good selection of Ancient musical sources in a new Russian translation.
The introductory paper discusses Ancient musical practices, outlines the sources of the science of Harmonics in Classical Greece, and reveals the role of music in the society. The exposition is supplemented with a series of color illustra-tions and a select bibliography.
The first essay outlines the Pythagorean science of harmonics in its historical and theoretical aspects. It is intended to be a chapter in the history of ancient mathematical studies of nature, although the author occasionally touches upon such related areas as the history of philosophy and the history of music, and hopes that his work will be interesting to scholars working in these fields. After a short introduction, the author first turns to the phenomenology of harmony and then analyses in considerable details the harmony as a structure of numerical rela-tions and – alleged or real – acoustic experiments designed to establish the quali-ties of sound, as well as consonant and dissonant intervals.
The second essays, the “birth of harmony out of the spirit of tekhe,” studies the extent to which the Mycenaean Greek influenced the formation of the very meaningful word harmonia. Even early Greek philosophers, who viewed harmo-nia as an organizing, joining and fastening principle, could not help hearing an-cient repercussions of this word, and probably unconsciously chose an appropri-ate, technical, context. As scholars, most notably P. Ilievski (1993), have convinc-ingly shown, the ancient Greek noun harmonia and the verb harmodzo are traced back to the Mycenaean word (h)armo (meaning a “wheel” in the form of a felloe having an inner connection by means of spokes). Heraclitus explains harmonia by means of lyre and bow, making us understand that this presupposes something more than a visible connection, and he chooses lyre and bow because they sym-bolize the same innate joint, which makes the wheel lighter and stronger. Emped-ocles links harmonia with Aphrodite – one of creative powers. It was important for him to represent the multifaceted character of harmonia by means of different crafts. In his philosophical views we can clearly see the process of development of the term from its technical to abstract meaning.
The Problems, concerned with music in the Corpus Aristotelicum is a collection of questions and answers on the subject of music, and was compiled, as the ma-jority of scholars agree, in Lyceum during and after Aristotle's time, in the late fourth and the early third centuries BCE. Unlike later manuals, the collection is marked by its diversity: it proposes a range of working hypotheses and offers al-ternative explanations for the same phenomenon, a rare witness of vivid school discussions of the scientific matters.
Although a work of several hands, rather than of Euclid (active around 300 BCE), the Sectio Canonis (an introduction and 20 propositions formulated in the manner of theorems, preserved independently and, partially and slightly differ-ently, in Porphyry and Boethius), is counted among the most important writings on ancient mathematical harmonics. The central part of the treatise could indeed be written by the great mathematician himself, undoubtedly, based on the works of early authors, such as Archytas, while the rest, esp. the introduction, is admit-tedly a later addition. Despite few logical inconsistencies, the treatise as a whole is a unique early attempt at the composing of a systematic mathematical harmonics, based on both the empirical observations and an intrinsic logic of the division of the musical kanon.
The Peripatetic philosopher Aristoxenus (the 4th century BCE) is undoubtedly the most important musical theorist of Antiquity. His major piece of writings, transmitted to our days as the Elementa harmonica have recently been translated into Russian by V. G. Tsypin (1998, Moscow), while his general views on the musi-cal culture are less studied. So are his fragments on rhythm. Rhythmical phenom-ena are very widespread: “rhythm is applied to bodies that do not move, as when we speak of a statue having ‘good rhythm’, to anything that moves, as when we speak of someone walking with ‘good rhythm’… in general rhythm is perceived by three senses, which are these: sight, as in dancing; hearing, as in melody; and touch, by which we perceive, for instance, the pulsations of the arteries” (Aristides Quintilianus, De Musica 1.13, Barker’s translation). In his Elementa Rhythmica Aristoxenus builds a general and quite abstract theory of rhythm, treating it as a phenomenon, quite distinct from metre and musical intervals. Indeed, the latter are perceived as quantifiers, inherently characteristic of verse and melody. On the contrary, rhythm does not inhere in a poem or musical composition and must be imposed on them: in order to perform a piece of poetry or music, especially if they involve a bodily movement, dance, one has to apply quite an empirical art of rhythmical composition (rhythmopoiia), which allows to structure fluid and un-stable temporal events. In the chapter, we offer a translation of the Elementa Rhythmica into Russian and, commenting on it, adduce contemporary evidence for the psychological aspects of time perception and structuring of spatial and temporal patterns.
The heir of Aristotle Theophrastus of Eresus (the head of Lyceum from 322 to c. 287 BCE) wrote voluminously on a great variety of subjects, including music. Unfortunately, not much survived intact, and for recovering his highly original approach to music we have to rely on a series of testimonies in later authors (fr. 714 ff. Fortenbaugh), and a relatively long extract from his treatise On Music, quoted by Porphyry in his Commentary to Ptolemy’s Harmonics. He seems to be especially concerned with educational and therapeutic value of music and, most importantly, while criticising standard Pythagorean, Platonic and Peripatetic mathematical harmonics as well as contemporary acoustical theories, have pro-posed a new qualitative approach to music, based on a re-evaluation of common empirical considerations and a very problematic (due to the lack of sufficient evi-dence) theory of the psychological nature of musical consciousness, and special power of music, manifested in the movement productive of melody which occurs in the human soul when it reveals itself in a melodic voice.
Extracts from the Pythagorean Elements of Music of Ptolemaïs of Kyrene, the only female musical theorist in Antiquity, preserved by Porphyry in his Commen-tary to Ptolemy’s Harmonics, are important, first of all, because, they belongs to those very scanty testimonies that witness continuous development of the musical science from the time of Aristoxenus to this of Nicomachus of Gerasa. Apparent-ly, Porphyry quotes Ptolemaïs on the basis of the work of Didymus the Musician (active in the time of Nero), and gives absolutely no information about her live. Most recently Levin (2009) speculated that this Ptolemaïs could be a woman of noble origin and live in Alexandria in the time of Eratosthenes (c. 275–194 BCE), which would be a nice hypothesis but cannot be proved. The extracts introduce the notion of the science of kanonike and contribute to the famous polemics be-tween the mathematikoi and the mousikoi, which lead to ‘reason-based’ Pythago-rean and ‘perception-based’ Aristoxenian approaches to musical theory, and Ptol-emaïs apparently prefers the latter despite the title of her work, given by Porphyry.
The fragments of Theophrastus’ and Ptolemaïs’ musical works are supple-mented with other evidences, also quoted by Porphyry, such as the most im-portant musical fragment of Archytas (fr. 1 DK), extracts from the Peripatetic De audibilibus, as well as quotes from such otherwise unknown musical writers as Heraclides the Younger (active in the time of Claudius and Nero), Panaetius the Younger (unknown date), and Aelianus (the end of the 2nd c.), all on the subject of Pythagorean harmonics and acoustic theory.
In two final chapters we translate the famous Manual of harmonics by the Ne-opythagorean Nicomachus of Gerasa (the 2nd c. CE) as well as the musical sec-tions of The Mathematics Useful for Understanding Plato by Theon of Smyrna (the 2nd c. CE), which contain material taken from Thrasyllus (the beginning of the 1st c. CE) and Adrastus (the end of the 1st c. CE).
The work will be useful for students of Ancient music as well as for a wider readership, including those scholars and students who are interested in Ancient philosophy and culture. The texts are illustrated and supplemented with a select bibliography.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In this lecture, one can find an abbreviated historical trajectory of the appearance and development of archaeology as a science. The aim is to demonstrate the perceptions and biases, which have influenced and still influence the... more
In this lecture, one can find an abbreviated historical trajectory of the appearance and development of archaeology as a science. The aim is to demonstrate the perceptions and biases, which have influenced and still influence the archaeological theory and practice in negative or positive ways. The lecture was prepared for the participants of the program on “Classics and Philosophy” of Novosibirsk State University (October 2018).